Discover France Official Tour Operator to the Tour de France

Now posted live on the official tour website: www.letour.fr

Pricing and details will be posted live within a few days timeframe on our sites:

www.discoverfrance.com
www.cyclingclassics.com

Crossing the Pyrenees is BEST TRIP FOR 2010!

National Geographic Adventure has selected another Discover France tour for their annual award list known as the "25 Best New Trips for 2010". The November issue is now on news stands and the online article can be found at this link: http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/best-new-trips-2010/trips-text

The trip chosen is our new Crossing the Pyrenees Trip which is actually listed on the Cycling Classics Website at this page: http://www.cyclingclassics.com/pyrenees_traverse.php
This is a challenging trip as it involves cycling from the Atlantic Coast to the Mediterrean Coast over the passes and through the famous Pyrenees Mountain chain. It is however a dream trip for strong cyclists and long distance riders who love to get away from it all! The big draw and main selling feature in selecting this trip for this prestigious list is the fact that the Pyrenees remain a true natural setting that have gone largely unnoticed by mass tourism development.

Small villages that depend on agriculture and livestock as well as a few small industries still keep people in these remote and wildly picturesque hill sides. This is still France and so food is an important tradition everywhere in France. Cycling all day is rewarded with comfortable lodging, a warm welcome, and hearty traditional cuisine!

We referred to this trip as an 'expedition' style trip of days gone by. Imagine leaving the glitzy Atlantic coast at Biarritz behind and riding into the 'unknown'?! Passing from small village to small village and crossing quiet lands and soaking up raw mountain beauty creates anticipation and a bit of concern. The cycling is hard - so participants need to be ready! We offer guided and self guided options to do this tour; prices are posted on the link above!

Tour de France 2010 - Oct 14

The route of the 2010 Tour de France is to be announced next week in Paris, October 14. We are naturally watching very closely to see exactly how the Tour route will shape up for 2010, but we have a few ideas and a major announcement that is forthcoming:

First, we are pleased to pre-announce that Discover France Adventures, owners of the brand Cycling Classics, will be an Official Tour Operator for the Tour de France in 2010 ! This is very exciting news and following meetings with Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) last week in Paris, we are pleased to be selected by ASO in this exclusive representation! Only 5 companies worldwide share this distinction! We are already planning for the official announcement.

One important bit of information that does NOT come with our official tour operator status is any early knowledge of the upcoming Tour route. So, like most, even we have to wait to October 14 to know for sure. However, we have been busy at work booking hotels in various places throughout France. What we can say for sure is this:

The Pyrenees are going to play a big role in 2010. This is the 100th anniversary of the Tourmalet and the Tour de France; so we expect a number of stages in the Pyrenees, including a Tourmalet stage. We also expect to see Etape du Tour in the Pyrenees again this year - possibly including the Tourmalet.

We expect huge numbers for the places we will have to offer in 2010. We will offer VIP trips with privilged access on the Tour and of course our traditional Tour trips without all the same VIP access but still privileged info and always professional support. We hope to announce our tours in full detail by the end of October. Early booking is possible with the option to cancel (without any penalty); see this page of our site for info: Tour de France 2010