A great piece of perspective on watching races live from CICC beast, Laurent. All pics from Laurent too.

I don’t miss many road races on TV, but very rarely watch the pros in real life. Am I wrong?

I remember waiting two or three hours by the side of the road as a teenager to watch a Tour de France peloton zoom past at 50kph. Can’t think of any other time when I’ve waited so much for such a short reward!

There is no debate on the fact that the best way to follow a race is to watch it on TV, yet millions of spectators line up every July for the Tour de France. Have I been missing out on something?

There’s only one way to find out… and this time of year, the first stage of Paris-Nice always takes place nearby.

10am: I get there early, 3 hours before the start of the race, because well… you never know and I guess I’m an early kind of guy 😉. With hindsight I could have saved a good couple of hours, but it gave me the opportunity to chat with like-minded cycling enthusiasts.

11am: The teams arrive and it looks like the riders will stay in the buses for as long as possible. Fortunately the bikes are on display to keep us entertained. With 154 riders and 3 bikes each, there’s literally millions of euros worth of bikes here. 

12:30pm: I have been waiting in front of the Soudal Quick-Step bus for an hour and the riders are finally coming out. I get Remco Evenepoel to sign my CICC jersey!

Remco Evenpoel taking some time with fans.

1pm: The race is about to start. Egan Bernal, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, the 3 main favourites for GC, line up on the start line.

Egan Bernal, Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic and Arnaud Démare 

The race is on! The wait is over for the riders, but it really starts for me. The riders will cross the finish line a first time at 3:30pm and then again at 5pm. Time to eat and do a recce of the finish. After considering my options, I settle for a spot 50 meters after the finish line in order to see the sprint and be close to the riders on their way to the podium. I think it paid off.

Mads Pedersen and Olav Kooij sprint for the line

Olav Kooij on his way to the podium

There is no denying that most of my day was spent waiting, but I was prepared for it. Now I get to wear a jersey signed by Remco, that’s not something you can get sitting on your couch. 

There are many days this year that I will forget, this won’t be one of them. Get out there, create memories!