Grenoble-Bastille cable car Tour de France Picture

September 18, 2020 8:56 PM

I saw in the news a couple of days ago variations of this picture, picture (first in the gallery) of riders hanging under the cable cars on their bikes. Why? What is going on here? They don't even seem strapped in. I can't seem to find anything about it, only that they are competing in the race.
posted by Lesium to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

Best answer: This piqued my interest and it took a good long google. Everyone is printing that picture but nobody is discussing why or how or who. Except! Appears to be a performance intended to raise rider's spirits that happened at the opening of the 17th stage this year. None of that makes sense to me (how? why? who?), just repeating the copy according to this sketchy site (https://www.tellerreport.com/life/2020-09-17-the-17th-stage-of-the-tour-de-france-opens-with-performers-pretending-to-be-riders-and-hanging-in-the-air.rkn12mBeBw.html). If it was some kind of performance art or local bike enthusiasts doin a fun, you might find more info in papers/facebook/reddit from the local area where this happened-- I don't speak/read the languages there so can't do it myself.
posted by holyrood at 9:24 PM on September 18, 2020

I also found this page (https://www.straitstimes.com/world/cycling-to-new-heights) which is a little less sketchy as a site, offers the same explanation, and offers a different view of the same scene, too.
posted by holyrood at 9:30 PM on September 18, 2020

Best answer: holyrood is right, it's a performance to promote Grenoble and the Tour de France.

Here's a news article, and here's a video too!
posted by katecholamine at 10:22 PM on September 18, 2020 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks folks, it at least makes a little more sense. I am normally pretty good at googling but the Tour de France part threw me I think. Anyway I blame poor reporting on most news sites world wide :-)
posted by Lesium at 11:25 PM on September 18, 2020

It is bad reporting that these sites don't mention that all along the route local communities will do stunts like this which then appear in the (international) television coverage of the Tour. So you see things like giant bikes in fields made out of hay bales which appear in the helicopter footage of the ride going past, or messages spelled out advertising the nearest town. This year as the riders went past a WWII battlefield there was a live-action reenactment at the side of the road by people in period costume.
posted by Lluvia at 12:20 AM on September 19, 2020 [9 favorites]