i do not research this, i live this
Most travel agents read about the race. I ride it. I planned my own Tour de France trip from the ground up, arrival in Nice, morning rides through Monaco with a coffee stop on the Col d'Eze, the drive to Grenoble to see the Tour and race day timing down to the minute. I have ridden the iconic French climbs myself, the Galibier, Ventoux, the Tourmalet, and Hautacam, and I have stood roadside at the Tour. I have run the Pittsburgh Marathon. I’ve been to USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals. When I plan a sports trip I am pulling from firsthand experience, not a booking engine that has never seen a start line.
Cycling
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Marathon
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Triathlon
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Hyrox
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Cycling ✳︎ Marathon ✳︎ Triathlon ✳︎ Hyrox ✳︎
sports travel redefined
A pro race weekend abroad
For a Strade Bianche trip to Siena I mapped the whole thing, flights out of Pittsburgh, a private transfer from Florence, a hotel just outside the Campo, a private guide for the pro race setup and day trips to Chianti and San Gimignano around the road closures. That is the difference. I know that on race day the roads shut down and you cannot just drive out, so I plan the trip around it instead of fighting it.
Riding a real Tour Stage and Witnessing the Tour de France
On my Tour de France itinerary I had riders leaving Grenoble at 4am to beat a rolling road enclosure, meet points staged at the Col du Galibier and the Croix de Fer, live routing on a Wahoo for my client’s riding a stage, and the nearest emergency bike shop already scouted in case something snapped. A booking site will never warn you the road closes at 11:30am or that you want the start line to catch the caravan. I build that in.
The logistics you do not want to think about.
Hotel blocks near the start line before they sell out, airfare coordination for you or your whole team, ground transportation timed to race morning, custom booking pages so teammates reserve their own rooms, and concierge support on the ground. Where you sleep and how you get to the venue can make or break race day, so I plan around it.
Next step
Racing somewhere this year? Let's build the trip around it. Reach out and talk to me about your next race.