This year as you may already know the Tour De France set off from the city of Rotterdam, so living not too far away from Rotterdam (about 20 mins by train) so we set off to Rotterdam to catch a glimpse of the teams setting off.
We visited the Grand Depart on the Sunday but in total it was a four day affair starting Thursday 1st July 2010, the first day was packed with various TDF events including amateur tours of 40, 70 and 120 km’s.
Friday’s events included hand bikers and wheelchair events, plus various teams such as the police and other Dutch team races.
Saturday saw the prologue race, this race determined who would be departing from Rotterdam with the yellow jersey so the competition was already hot even before the official start. This was the ideal opportunity for spectators to catch a glimpse of their favourite team or rider, with Rabobank probably being the most popular team for most visitors with it being the national team for the Netherlands. The publicity caravans also got a test run around Rotterdam pumping the crowds up with some freebies and promotions, the Dutch love a freebie or two, so this parade of bottled water, sports drinks, jelly sweets, and Skoda cars (no they were not throwing Skodas into the crowd!) to name just a few was an exciting energy builder for sure.
Sunday saw the highly anticipated event: the official start of the Tour De France 2010, Le Grand Depart.
The point all cyclists departed from
We arrived at 10am to watch the commercial caravans start out on their long tour all the way to France. We decided to explore and remain in the Westerkade area of Rotterdam as this is where all the teams would depart from on the way to the official start at Erasmus Bridge a few km away.
Commercial caravans were the first off!
Crowds were starting to build early as the tour buses arrived carrying the cyclists. Official team cars carrying the bikes on the roof were arriving in droves, all parked neatly side by side against the crowd barriers, this made it very easy to chat and watch what the technical crews were up to, you could feel the tension building as they were making last minute adjustments to some of the trusty bikes the cyclists would be counting on to get them through the flats of Holland through Belgium then up and away into those mountains.
Quick step mechanic prepping Wijnants bike
Some cyclists were venturing out of their tour buses to greet and sign autographs for fans waiting and watching the events unravel. The team Radioshack tour bus arrived as the crowds started to swarm into the surrounding area, of course one of the most if not THE most famous cyclist in the world Lance Armstrong was sitting on that very bus.
Lance Armstrong's Team Radioshack tour bus
A crew member tried to make his way with a big box of free goodies to give out patiently waiting fans at the barriers but already swarms of people with “special” passes to be in the official area (people who were competition winners or company sponsorship employees) were starting to literally fight over the freebies being handed out. Shouting and tugs of war were braking out over cheaply made free T-shirts with the Radio Shack logo printed on! I have never witnessed such a sight in my life, I hope these grown adults are ashamed of themselves when they look back on their behaviour. Luckily the squabbles died down and the bad vibes were consumed by the building excitable atmosphere.
Ready for the off!
The cyclists numbers were firmly in place on each bike and the teams had arrived, the mayor of Rotterdam was ready with his speech and the Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was greeting officials and famous Tour De France cyclists Joop Zoetermelk and Bernard Hinault were amongst this group of people cheering the cyclists off on their way.
Mayor Aboutaleb, Prime Minister Balkenende and Tourdirector Prudhomme
Joop Zoetermelk winner of Tour De France 1980 and Bernard Hinault winner of 1978, 1979,1981,1982 and 1985
Everything in Rotterdam was yellow, which was quite a strange phenomenon as we were in the midst of the World Cup where everything that you can feast your eyes on has to be orange the Dutch national colour which everyone here is so enthusiastic about during these big national events.
Everything is yellow in Rotterdam
But today for the Rotterdammers it was all about those tough guys on bikes cycling through the wind, rain, sun, thunder and lightening and any other other type of weather they would be blessed or cursed with, enduring so many different types of terrain ranging from below sea level to altitudes you can just about catch your breath in! These guys when they are unlucky enough to have an accident they jump right back on! in some cases in agony.. some carry on with broken bones, grazed elbows and layers of skin ripped off after a close encounter with the road at high speed. But they all have two things in mind their team and WINNING! The comradeship, team spirit and good sportsmanship most of the cyclists display put many other professional team sportsmen to shame. Even their relationships with their competitors is something to be admired.
The crowds quickly built up and the streets were buzzing with excitement as the speeches were under way and the cyclists were mounting their bikes ready for their short trip to the Erasmus bridge a few kilometres away. Spectators were moving closer to the barriers in hope of catching a glimpse of the cyclists speeding off from the start line.
And the cyclists were off!
Within a few minutes the cyclists we already well on their way to the Erasmus bridge and spectators could watch their progress through Rotterdam city centre on big screens displayed throughout the city. Our view of the Rhine and water hose display (via small ships) was fantastic. It is not very often that I take the time to admire the beauty of Rotterdam, having worked in Rotterdam for many years with a view of the Rhine and experiencing the water hose/fountains every time a big cruise liner arrives in the port or a special event takes place, you start to take the scenery in all its glory for granted somewhat.
The amazingly beautiful Erasmus Bridge
This special day brought it home to me just how magnificent the city is and how amazing it looked on the big screen, if I was sitting at home somewhere in another country watching the Tour De France on TV I’d be saying “Wow! I want to go there!!” Rotterdam you really brushed up well and were looking amazingly handsome that day!
Rotterdam south side skyline
That brings my Rotterdam Tour De France experience to a close, check back soon to read all about our Tour De France trip to Avoriaz to catch the cyclists at a mountain stage.
Did you also pay a visit to the Tour De France? If so I’d love to hear about it!
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