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City Center Reims
Reims-Champagne Airport (RHE)
 

France Tours

Le Tour de France is the the world's largest bicycle race first held in 1903.  This annual event features 21 stages in 23 days and usually spans a distance of 2200 miles (3500 km).  The route changes every years, and traverses most of France and its neighboring countries.  Various stages cross alpine and flat open terrain to play to the advantage of different types of riders.

The Tour is a lot of fun to visit, as it features a day-long parade of automobiles (throwing out free goods, Mardi Gras style) which precede the actual cyclists. 

You can take your pick -- big city or alpine town -- as far as what kind of scenery you want for your post-race partying.  Be assured that each destination town on the Tour de France will be packed with cycling and party enthusiasts alike.  It is really one giant festival.

Alpine towns feature jaw-dropping scenery and small roads that allow you to get within an arms distance of the racers.  We recommend you position yourself on an incline, which will make it easier to see the slowly climbing cyclists as they pass by (on a downhill, all you will see is the blur of cyclists whizzing past). 

While it's easier to feel the influx of thousands of tourists in a small alpine town, big cities will have more distractions should you tire of the cycling crowd.  Either way, you are bound to have a good time visiting the Tour.

The final stage, on the Champs Elysees in Paris, is perhaps the most crowded stage

	Crowds along the narrow roads along the Tour de France		Motorcycle riders announce the coming cyclists
	Tour de France cyclists climbing the Alps		Tour de France cyclists riding through a French alpine town
	T-Mobile rides during a Tour de France mountain stage		Tour de France riders through Les Gets, France
	Parade of cars preceding the cyclists		Alpine Tour de France destination town of Les Gets, France
	Crowds watch the peloton go by in the Tour de France		Cyclists on the Champs Elysees final stage in Paris
	Cyclists along the Champs Elysees in France		Flag waving fans on the Champs Elysees in Paris
	Final Paris stage of the Tour de France		Cyclists on final stage of the Tour de France
	Peloton cyclists in the final stage of the Tour de France		Crowds of fans watching the Tour de France final stage in Paris
	Parade of cars precede the peloton		Lance Armstrong fan in Paris
	US fan watching Lance Armstrong's record run in Paris		USPS Cycling Team fans supporting Lance Armstrong in France
	Vehicles throw out gifts to the crowd		Crowds line the streets along the Tour de France route

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