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

New Guided Alpes Trips for 2010

Currently in the works:

New Alpes Trip: Stay at Alpe d'Huez for a few nights, ride on to St Martin en Maurienne following the route of the Marmotte; then to Briancon to bag the Galibier and Izoard.

New Alpes to Ventoux: following the above route we continue on to Mont Ventoux.

Dates are in process now. Groups of 6 or more can have a custom guided tour date - let us know soon as guides, vans, and equipment are already being booked up.

Tour de France followers - here is a cool blog that can keep you up to date on what the latest speculations are for 2010:

New Jerseys & Shirts are Here

The new Discover France Adventures 'kits' are in! Jerseys, shorts, and bib shorts are available at prices just over cost. This is not a profit center item, we want jerseys on the road so we are just covering costs; so the prices are very good. This is high quality gear made by Sugoi, the same company that outfits our top rated amateur youth development team, Team Waste Management.

The design is very cool too! We use our custom logos and unique logo color combination but we have kept the graphics to a minimum. For fun, we stuck a baguette, wine bottle, and camembert (cheese) in the back pockets! Its France afterall!! On the collar it says Bonjour and Au Revoir! The material is lightweight and light colors so will keep you cool; and looking very cool!

Also on this page that is linked above are some new T-shirts! Of course they too are very stylish and sold at just over cost. Different options are available. Some nice white Ts to our blue/green T, and our night club black T.

Enjoy!

Tour de France & Etape 2010

The 2009 Tour is a few weeks in the bag now and already the inquiries for 2010 are upon us! In fact, we already have bookings! (Pic: Our client David Towne with his favorite play by play guy!)

What we know - the 2010 Tour will see some new teams and potentially a new rivalry: Contador who is trying to get away from Astana and possibly go with a new Spanish team; Lance going to Radioshack and forming a team. There is no doubt that the news and dramas of pro cycling will keep us glued until next year.

This year we had some great trips and feedback was very good. So, in order to get people booked and confortable, we are going to accept advance bookings now with a fully refundable option until December this year. When we know the full Tour program for 2010 in late October, we will announce some tours. This is a NO RISK way to lock up some space.

Why our tours? They are for cyclists - some come along if you want to do a lot of riding! We use only professional guides - which means Frenchmen who have years of cycling education, a diploma certifying their ability to lead people which includes safety, first aid, insurance, mechanics, group dynamics, and more. Not to mention that our guides are also bilingual, friendly, fun, and all strong cyclists themselves! Last - Price; very few can offer a better value. Being based in France and USA gives us a unique cost advantage - we don't have to subcontract services - so no layers of margin in our tours! Keep that in mind when you shop!

Check out the details at our site: 2010 French Grand Tour

Below are some pics submitted by clients from this year: