Stéphane Place (correspondent in Bordeaux) / Photo credit: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP
With each crossing of town, but also of village, the Tour de France arouses a singular effervescence. This will be the case with the Libourne-Limoges stage on the borders of the Gironde and the Dordogne, in the Coutras sector, a few kilometers from Bordeaux. Bib shorts, jersey, helmet… Getting ready to get on his bike at the exit of the bakery in this Girondin village, Gilles is impatiently awaiting the Tour de France.
A long-awaited party
Out of the question for him to stay in the city center of Coutras. The speed is too high so there is no time to admire the race. It is an event that the enthusiast would not miss for anything in the world. “The Tour de France has not passed through Coutras for 30 years”, says Gilles proudly, astride his bike.
Jean-Claude, he will stay at home since the peloton will spin on the departmental road which borders his house. For this grandfather, this stage will also be a great family celebration. “The whole family will arrive to see the Tour de France pass. Children and grandchildren, there are about fifteen of them”, testifies Jean-Claude. Just a little further along this road, in a meadow, will be specially exhibited the collection bikes that belong to Éric Boisset. “From the oldest of the draisienne of 1818. It’s a wooden bicycle, but from roads to bicycles, the most recent will be 1925. There, I will have about fifteen of them”, he explains proudly.
An open-air museum, family barbecues and a big party that everyone is preparing for in Coutras.