Pedal Punditry #20 | Inside the Tour de France as a journalist experiencing it for the first time

The Tour de France is the epitome of the cycling season and with no doubt one of the most watched sporting events of the year. I had the opportunity to cover the race for the first time and it's beautiful chaos captured my heart.

Ultimately, this is a story that I've meant to work on since the 29 of April which was the day I decided to apply for the Tour. Having had my first professional experience as a journalist back in August 2024 only with La Vuelta, I thought for a long time that I needed to perfect my practice a lot more before jumping in and working at the most special race that the spot has got to offer. At the Vuelta, cyclocross European Championships, O Gran Camiño, Figueira Champions Classic... There are challenges, there are barriers, but none would compare to what would ultimately have to be faced at the Tour.

The sheer size of the Tour's media field is unlike any other, with dozens of camera crews from multiple channels having the priority and the big say when it comes to talking to the riders. Outside of them, another few dozen written media journalists would battle for a good spot and for the right moments to talk to writers For written media, including some of the very biggest news outlets in the world (this applies to several languages), it was often a challenge to have contact with riders such as Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard (and the dozens of other big stars present). At the end of each stage not a single rider who had a meaningful say in the stage's story was left to their own - which is, in a way, the magic of the Tour.

Something I've come to realize is that whilst we (fans, and not only) are watching the Tour de France on TV, we fail to realize how many Tours are ongoing at the same time. The cycling teams' staff have their own Tour so as to reach the start, finish areas and hotels hours before everyone else everyday and make sure the teams are fully set up; The teams that are working on assembling the start and finish areas come in hours before them; The staff responsible for assembling all logistics for the race caravan and everyone associated to race to know where and how to go come in earlier... The journalists have their own Tour, trying to reach all the start and finish areas in time (besides the obvious work associated with it), combining that with a constant search for the press rooms, AirBnB's (or Hotels, often with blocked roads in the way), and being in a constant race against time. It was beautiful to witness this massive interconnected machine including thousands of people flowing so smoothly.

I have vivid memories of being on my couch watching the 2021 Tour, fresh out of college and looking for a job in the Geography area, not knowing that in 4 years time I would be talking to the riders that I was seeing on TV and idolizing. Whilst I can't say it's an unique story, I find it quite special and one that I'm tremendously proud of. My upbringing within the sport (through my own blog and social media) also inspires me to give back in some way, and providing this insight into the Tour is one way in which I hope I can succeed. Whilst this experience has left me very eager for the future, I equally feel the accomplishment and pride over the work that has been done already. I'm certain other journalists have gotten quite a lot more interesting stories, but through my words I can only convey this experience through my point of view. 

Fruit of a nice 6:30am flight - alongside some personal and professional work that had to be done the whole week ahead of the travel - I had the pleasure of arriving to France already quite exhausted. In the north of France there are a lot of nice sights to see, but for a cycling fan like me, the first of which was actually the long national road from Beauvais to Amiens. The 38 degrees that blasted through the rental, the long straight roads through the fields and the rolling hills quickly gave me the French summer feeling and a flashback of the 2011 Tour - the first I've watched whole - and Johnny Hoogerland's crash into a barbed wire fence when he was hit by a car during the race. For a while I even wondered if it was the very same one! But of course, that was not the case (although I do go and confirm).

Lille hosted the first French Grand Depart in five years, at the time with the city of Nice - in the very opposite end of the country - during the 'Covid year'. The Hauts-de-France region held a nicely-organized event throughout the opening days of the race, and with Lille not being a huge metropolitan area, it made it a manageable logistic challenge. Whilst it seemed like there were no free parking spots anywhere in the city, which felt rather unusual, it ultimately didn't come to bite me. After what felt like endless days of preparation work towards the Tour in terms of writing, and now doing the same in person, I took some time to rest before the days ahead which I knew would be as busy as they come.

One thing that might not be clear from the outside is that before the actual start of the Tour, there is a 'press conference Tour'. 15 teams hosted press conferences between the 2nd and 4th of July - 12 of those on the 3rd and 4th alone. These would collide in schedules: Take the 10:00h spot on the 4th, there were three teams at the same time hosting their events (Team Visma | Lease a Bike; Uno-X Mobility and Movistar Team). Additionally, these press conferences would be hosted in different cities. It is noteworthy that UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, two of the biggest teams, did not host their own press conferences - which you could say made this part of the Tour a little less challenging, as they could not be missed.

I myself travelled to Lens and even to Kruisem in Belgium for the very first press conference which was that of Soudal - Quick-Step. Nervous and on the front row, I was on a solo mission where I didn't actually mingle along the dozens of journalists, but instead tried to stay focused and calm so that I would not... Fuck up anything! You would understand if you were seeing Remco Evenepoel, Tim Merlier and Tom Boonen walk right in front of you and knowing your job is literally to talk to them and ask interesting questions - preferentially, some that have not been asked to them before. After it was done and dusted with the Quick-Step material there was still time for an online interview with Steff Cras, who is rumoured to be joining the team next year - although he did not want to admit it. 

The GC riders at the Tour will look to have their peak form during the second and third weeks of the Tour, months of preparation to be at the absolute highest level they can possible be in the mountains to battle for any and every second. For me, I needed my absolute highest level in the days leading up to the Tour and this was the first of them. In other words, from 8:00 to 22:00 there was a non-stop flow of conducting interviews, being present in press conferences (which includes the driving), writing up articles and inbetween try to eat something when possible. Lidl-Trek and Tudor Pro Cycling Team were on the menu on the first part of the day; and on the second there would be the press conferences of Biniam Girmay; Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen; Primoz Roglic; Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar. Roglic was a ray of sunshine in the ancient Lille Opera, bringing a good and relaxed mood in the face of what were easily a hundred people all eager to extract every bit of information and opinion from him for 20 minutes. A beautiful back-and-forth battle which the Slovenian seems to have gotten down to an art with his 36 years of age.

The Tour's presentation had begun by the time Tadej Pogacar began to answer a few questions in Slovenian to wrap up the race's own press conference event. Every rider would climb onto a circular structure right in the center of the city in what I would call quite a scenic and creative way to use the small amount of space. I learned about this location through... Twitter! Okay, maybe in this occasion I'll call it X. I will go deeper on this specific topic later, but the truth is that I did not even see this structure in person, and only days later would I even learn where it was placed. Whilst the first riders were making their way to the packed Mixed Zone for journalists, I was wondering around the thousands of fans and endless barriers looking for a way to get in - even though, I must say, the organizers did a good job to keep the media informed on how to get from A to B.

Once on location there were interesting conversations with several riders until 20:00, before another stint at the Press Room up until 22:00, right until it closed - that's because at that time, I still had not finished my duties for the day, and would have to finish them back at my AirBnB up until midnight. The Press Room was naturally the biggest I had been in so far, and in the already-restricted area outside of it was a beautiful display with many jersey's from the race's history, as well as everything necessary for all sorts of race staff to organize what was necessary.

After what I could accurately call a literal full day of work my head was in shambles and a 01:00 sleep was not ideal taking into consideration the next day the alarm was blasting through the room at 07:30 to do it all again. On the menu to start off the day, none other than Jonas Vingegaard, Matteo Jorgenson, Wout van Aert, Simon Yates and Grischa Niermann at the team's hotel. No pressure, right? I was personally very curious as to what Jonas had told Pogacar after their head-to-head sprint on the first stage of the Dauphiné, but unfortunately the two-time Tour de France winner (again, no pressure) told me he did not remember.

Later on at the Team Jayco AlUla hotel, I was surprised with the slim entourage of media present. Whilst it did directly collide with Team Picnic PostNL, I expected major stars like Ben O'Connor and Dylan Groenewegen to attract dozens to the Australian team just outside Lille. Groenewegen was perhaps the man with the most interested journalists around (likely due to the news breaking out on the very same day that he could be heading to Unibet Tietema Rockets). I was personally quite shocked to learn that to talk to Ben O'Connor and Luke Plapp, two of Australia's absolute top figures, I was only joined on the roundtable by Cyclingnews - whose writers were very friendly and considerate of my request for advice.

It was another day to take the head as far as it could go, writing stories captured on the day, the day before and others that would still come later in the day such as João Almeida's Portuguese-only videocall. A (let's call it) communication issue led me to lose quite a lot of it, definitely something to be angry with at the end of the day taking into consideration how meaningful his words are for me as a journalist and fan (I am Portuguese at the end of the day!), and I've been seeing this rider win races since he was 17 and raced in the same junior peloton as I did. I believe that from that 2016 peloton only two men made it to the Tour de France, only in different roles!

Morning of the Grand Depart in Lille. A long walk across the city was the warm-up, and the path to the restricted bus area (which combined both start and finish locations of the stage, a blessing in disguise for everyone but the riders) was surprisingly easy - setting up bad expectations of what was to come later. The sun was out and there were a lot of smiles in and around the podium area, and the Mixed Zone was flourishing with World Tour riders in their best physical shape minutes before the start of the Tour - where all eyes would be on them every single day for three weeks. There were mixed feelings across the media crew, some of which were having a hard time with the 'circus' that this race could be. Whilst I was thrilled, I would feel it in the legs later how much this could also be my full reality.

A potentially controversial opinion from my end now: I actually like watching cycling on TV more than I do live. I think this sport, unlike football or most other stadium/arena-based sports, can only provide so much in terms of viewing experience. This is not a criticism, but my opinion based on the reality I have lived since a fan from a young age. The atmosphere and company is often the deciding factor in which you prefer. Personally I enjoy watching cycling a lot, and there's only so much you can see on the roadside (although of course, I say this as a fan who has not been able to watch races much in the mountains, which is the terrain I find most spectacular - hence this opinion could change in the future). Through television we are blessed to have an incredible in-depth view of racing which cannot be replicated elsewhere. And at the Tour, where we have start-to-finish coverage, we are spoiled to an even bigger degree. Phones and free (and legal!) live streaming are luckily available in 2025 and so I have the Portuguese RTP Play stream to thank quite a lot for the assistance they have provided me in the finales of the stage.

That is an interesting point I would like to bring up. On TV you will watch everything perfectly and flawlessly; On the roadside at the finish areas you will often find big screens to keep fans in on what is happening and how close the riders are to the finish, and usually everyone will be able to have a calm and good time before seeing their riders go through right in front of them. As Jasper Philipsen crossed the finish line to take the first yellow jersey in Lille, I was walking through the crowds in Lille, watching the sprint on my phone and looking for a place where I could talk to a French Gendarmerie who would hopefully allow me to jump the barriers and into the bus area. Luckily I succeeded, even if I had a leg cramp (this despite my frequent barrier and wall hopping experience) whose effects would be felt for hours. The logistical challenge of making it into the finish area from the inside was massive and this is something in which the Tour proved to be more complicated than any experience I've had before. The sheer size of the crowds meant that you will often have to walk for what feels like an eternity to be able to find a spot where you can have access to the area in which you have to work (often unsure if you will even find it). The CyclingUpToDate team was sharp and gave continuation to my work on site, always.  

The Tour has a beautiful touch to it that is hard to see in any other event. It was a pleasure to the eye to see so many fans around with the polka dot t-shirts; Lidl merch on their heads and feet; Remco Evenepoel's merchandise shirts everywhere; Fan chants - mostly over the many Belgian riders present at the race; the special flags designed to attract the attention of the riders and so much more. Whilst I've read conflicting reports that not everyone in Lille was aware of what was actually happening on the flesh, I disagree, having never seen before in any way a city as densely dressed up in Ciclismo as I've seen here.

Waking up in Douai on Sunday morning, I was surprised to look out the window and find wet roads and the rain falling down. 'Come to France in July they said. It will be hot they said'. In reality, five days earlier the thermometers were reaching as high as 38 degrees, but it was an entire different reality now only a few kilometers south of Lille. The drive towards Lawin-Planque was rather chaotic, but a perfectly-placed Carrefour proved to be a life-saver both in terms of parking, but also when it came to buying the biggest possible umbrella as just outside was a deluge that would make life a living (and ironically wet) hell for many. Adding to the bad weather, the small town - whilst beautifully decorated - was not the ideal place for such a sizeable caravan. As I hunted down the Paddock, I would occasionally scroll through Twitter to find out that many team busses were stuck in traffic and delayed quite a lot, and the same could be said to other colleagues. The start time was pushed forward because of this logistical nightmare, and the teams did not follow the announced podium ceremony at the start. I would add that the Mixed Zone was particularly thin this morning, although I would say that was in equal part due to the maze it was to get there. Besides an unexpected delay, spirits were low upon arrival to the start area because there were a lot more people in the streets of this French town then what is usual, and just walking sometimes proved to be difficult. The difficulty, again, in finding any access to race staff near the barriers made me believe at some point that getting to the Mixed Zone was simply not possible, much to my disappointment. Luckily this changed at some point, and I could consider myself lucky that a few riders endured the rain to stop for a few minutes and talk to the media - I think if I were a rider I certainly would not have that patience.

After the start to the stage and a long walk back to the car - followed by the lengthiest traffic line out of a supermarket I have ever experienced in my life - there was the long drive to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where a lovely cold buffet awaited the journalists. In case it was not evident, eating required it's own logistical effort throughout the week, and as commented with Wielerevue's Tim de Vries, just the fact that there was an actual meal at times (regardless of it's quality) was already a gift send from heaven. The finale in this French coastal city was quite beautiful, with thousands of fans lining up the avenue that led up to the Basilique Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception. The bus area was open after the finish, giving way to fans later to have much closer contact with the riders immediately after the finish. Whilst of course being one of cycling's most special things, it does make the job harder at times. I watched the finale of this stage sitting in a sidewalk next to TotalEnergies' team bus. Outside of anything you'll read in the general media, it was interesting to see Jonas Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson's conversation as they warmed down in their time-trial bikes for around 10 minutes which included jokes about Vingegaard being a sprinter, his weight and some light-hearted banter with Victor Campenaerts regarding... fishing. Wout van Aert and Edoardo Affini would also join in the conversation; whilst Sepp Kuss and Campenaerts would warm down in their standard bikes a few meters away. The mood was good within the Visma group, despite what on that day had been the main topic (Vingegaard's wife Trine having given an interview not too pleased with the team's treatment of the Dane).

The scenario in the city was quite different than the usual, where the 22:00 sunset loomed over the Dover Strait, but a beautiful French taco made sure the day ended on a high - although curiously, the seagulls made their presence felt quite intensely even when it was time to sleep.

The first proper sleep night in days as the start the following day was set to be in Valenciennes and the arrival in Dunkerque. All-in-all about four hours of driving in total towards a city where the weather forecast was grim and the chaotic nature of the start could prove to be an obstacle to the task at hand. Financially speaking (something taken into consideration for a lot of the decisions taken throughout the week) it was not wise to be present. Then came the trip to Dunkerque - a city that although climate-wise could be described as the same, had a very different environment. The hills in and around Boulogne-sur-Mer were not the case here, and the architecture also quite different. Historically speaking Dunkerque has an unmeasurable importance; with British troops (amongst others) leaving in the hundreds of thousands back in 1940 around the very same roads I would be walking through on a regular Monday afternoon.

Viewing the finale of the third stage had to be different in some way, only I didn't know how that would be. With my reliable Portuguese stream on the phone I kept up with the finale, and eventually linked up with a group that was watched the finale on a small screen after the finish. I couldn't see it from where I was, but little did I know my stream was around 30 seconds delayed. When I heard a collective 'WOAH' (same as when Benjamin Thomas and Mattéo Vercher crashed on stage 1) I could understand it must've been a crash, but nothing on my screen showed it. I learnt Tim Merlier won the stage whilst watching Team Picnic PostNL launch the sprint. By the time I could see the finale on both screens I had Soren Waerenskjold zoom past me - eventually I did chase him, on the way reading he was fifth on the day, and successfully catching up in time to collect his thoughts on the sprint. The Tour really is a circus and another late stint in the Press Room didn't feel heavy as in other days but rather something I knew I would miss the next day - and likely most days.

In 2024 I got to watch the finale of the Tour in Nice as a fan - for the first time. On the literal and very opposite pointy end of the country is the city of Dunkerque where my Tour de France debut concluded. Quite a good one I'd say, and not the last I can assure. Before heading back home though, I would need to take one more French taco on the way!