La France Profonde

Tour de France 2024, Thursday 11 July Stage 12 Aurillac - Villeneuve-sur-Lot

By car: 254 km

By bike: 10km

Tat: An Agriculteurs de Lot-et-Garonne flag; free entry to Parc Astérix; Monflanquin plastic mug

And so we start. A detour to Decathlon in Bordeaux for a new pair of casual cycling shoes, and then we’re on our way. I’m watching today’s stage at the small hilltop village of Monflanquin. To get there you have to cross the rolling hills of département 47 - Lot-et-Garonne - and you begin to realise just how big and empty the interior of France can be. Sleepy villages that look completely closed, kilometres without habitation, fantastic mansions with exquisite views built literally in the middle of nowhere.

Memorably, I spent a day in another département 47 village - Couzou - two years ago, and they really know how to party, though you pay for the restaurantation here. The whole village turns out. The highlight of the day is, of course, the caravan, and whilst I’m perfectly positioned to see the peloton swoop down the hill at 60km/h, I’m too high and too far back to get any tat. I singularly fail to get the most important thing of this sweltering day - a hat - either from the hundreds hurled at the crowds, or from the grumpy Groupama stall at the fête.

After two-and-a-half hours of waiting, the peloton swoops by, and as it’s a sprinter’s stage, just 20km from the finish, the whole thing is over in 30 seconds. Fortunately, Groupama have provided a fancy roll-up LED big screen, and we all gather round to watch the end of the race. An Astana rider hits a central reservation kerb hard, taking out loads of riders, and fortunately, although everyone is safe, it puts a severe dent in Primoz Roglic’s hopes. Birman Girmay wins his third stage, Mark Cavendish gets fifth. I later find he’s relegated to 68th for infringing on other riders. Getting news of the race can be very hard on the road.

After a drive down to Agen, and my bijou Airbnb studio, I cycle into the centre of Agen, and watch tomorrows start unfold like a butterfly from a chrysalis. I have a good meal overlooking the construction of the start line, and marvel how Lidl-Trek managed to get a hotel 25 metres from it.

Tomorrow, another first, up early to watch signing-on.