Driving the Tour de France with veteran cycling journalist James Raia

Clio2 NANTES, France — A Mercedes-Benz more than a decade ago to several Renault models. A  Citroen C4 sedan to a BMW 320i a few years back with a navigation system an 18-year guy from Australia showed me how to use. It all adds up to more than a decade of driving the Tour de France route start to finish in a variety of rental cars.

I was looking forward what was supposed to be a 3 1/2-hour drive Friday (July 1) from Charles DeGaulle Airport outside of Paris to the media center in Les Herbiers. From there, on paper at least, it’s supposed to be 45 minutes to the locale of my first three nights of accommodations. Hertz, however, made a mistake, The Volkswagen Golf GTI (diesel), part of what the rental company calls its Green Fleet, wasn’t available. Instead, I’m driving (at least for now) a Renault Clio (diesel).

The Clio, which debuted in 1990, is the French manufacturer’s super minicar and has twice been named European Car of the Year, in 1991 and in 2006. And the 3 1/2 hour drive via Yahoo Maps?

Make that about 5 1/2 hours, thanks the infamous Friday afternoon traffic in Paris . . . and two accidents. I also waited a combined one hour in line for an agent at Hertz and for the Renault to be cleaned (lots of other customers waited, too).

All of which meant my anticipation of getting to the media center came to a sudden halt. In fact, I never made it to the media center, opting instead for a journey of 415 kilometers (257 miles) to Nantes.

Although there was a maintenance vehicle flashing a neon Accident sign, I never drove past any signs of the second accident, which backlogged traffic for several miles.

Clio1-225x300 But I saw more than I wanted to see of the first accident, which appeared to involve four or five cars, a motorcycle and metal median barrier. I drove past the scene just as someone was bracing the neck and head of a young man (the motorcycle driver) who was lying on the ground in a fetal position and obviously in trouble.

Beyond the delays, one the A-11 opened up for clear driving, I averaged about 85 mph most of the way. The Renault isn’t the swiftest mini-car around, but nor is it the slowest. Its five-speed manual transmission responds well in lane change accelerations and is sturdy on the road. Most important, the diesel engine is efficient. The gas tank still appears to be three-quarters full, and with 4,000 miles or so ahead in the 98th edition of the Tour de France, that’s a big plus for a such a little car.

 The journey to the opening day of the Tour de France Media Center (Salle de Presse) is always an unknown. It’s the “chicken-before-the-egg” scenario of cycling’s grand affair.

Without a credential you can’t enter the media center and without a press sticker you can’t enter the media parking area to get your press pass.

In some years, I’ve had to park a mile away, talk my way into the facility, acquire my car stickers, walk back to the car, attach the stickers and then drive into the media parking area.

Sticker1-300x225 Left: Front and back car stickers for the Tour de France. Images © James Raia

None of that occurred this year, which I’m taking as a good omen for the race. The drive from Nantes was only about an hour and about 45 miles. Just outside of Nantes, a young guy was hitchhiking, so I gave him a lift.

Turns out he’s a law student at the University of Paris, and was en route to visiting a friend near the ocean. His English was better than my French, but we talk on the way and I dropped him off just entering the finishing city of the first stage.

Unlike some cities, Tour de France signage was perfect into Nantes and I pulled into an adjacent parking for race organizers that was, as the French say, “sign posted.”

The Media Center was actually the next exit. There was no negotiation necessary.  I parked, had my press credential and parking stickers within minutes. Vive Le Tour.

The Tour de France has three levels of media passes — orange, blue and green, with the latter being the highest priority and requiring a race radio. My blue sticker allows all access, with the exception of not getting ahead of the cyclists on the road.

Despite an easier day than expected, I also expect somewhere on the route a French policeman (gendarme) will stop me at a media center, along a country road or in a small city. It’s part of the race, and part of the spirit of the adventure that is the Tour de France.

Goodjames3 As a journalist since 1976, James Raia contribute sports, business, travel and lifestyle articles to newspapers, magazines and web sites including EMT.

James owns and maintains the web sites: golftribune.com (All about golf); montereypeninsula.org (All about the Monterey Peninsula); theweeklydriver.com. (All about cars). His articles will also appear in his  Twitter and Facebook pages.