Watching the Tour de France in London

June 17, 2007 6:53 PM

Watch the Tour de France in London for the prologue or stage 1?

I'm not really an experienced Tour viewer, but I thought I'd take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see it in London. I just want to make the trip once, so which day looks more interesting? The prologue is an individual time trial in Westminster, and the first stage is a plain stage with a rolling start through a large swath of London. The actual start is in Greenwich, and it probably gets increasingly difficult to reach the bits beyond by public transport.

I'd also love any suggestions on when and where to view, which you can send via e-mail if you want.

posted by grouse to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

Prologues are cool because you get to see every rider pass by individually which takes a few hours. Road stages pass you by in a matter of seconds and that's it.

Watch the prologue.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 8:08 PM on June 17, 2007

On the other hand, it's hard to beat watching a bunch sprint ...assuming you camp overnight to get a good spot. Even if it only lasts a few seconds.
posted by randomstriker at 11:22 PM on June 17, 2007

And of course you have to go to Canterbury for the finish.
posted by randomstriker at 11:23 PM on June 17, 2007

Best answer: The prologue will be extremely busy and you will be lucky to get a good view; the atmosphere should be excellent in recompense. Stage 1 your view will be more fleeting: the peloton whiizzzzs by, but the atmosphere as the the caravan passes is fun. If you're going with friends and can make a day of it then stage 1; if it's just you then the prologue or Greenwich.
posted by Huw at 2:19 AM on June 18, 2007

I saw the Tour last time it was in the UK - we hung about by the side of the road for hours and I saw about 2 seconds of Indurain before the whole thing was over. This time I'm planning either to be at the start or the finish of stage 1, rather than the prologue which I think will be heaving. This means you get to see a lot more and soak up some of the atmosphere; riders hanging out/warming up, mechanics fiddling with bikes and the usual pro-team stuff.
posted by poissonrouge at 3:11 AM on June 18, 2007

If you can get to Canterbury, then the end of Stage 1 is your best bet: you should also get the full-on caravan experience, complete with promotional doo-dahs. An alternative might be around the feeding station at Tunbridge Wells, especially if you fancy trying to grab a team musette or other race-related gubbins.

The prologue is great for seeing individual riders flash past every two minutes in a tight, heaving course. But it's not really the same as a road stage.

(I've been on the Champs-Elysées twice for the finish, which is pretty special: the Paris circuit means you get to see the peloton for more than a few seconds.)
posted by holgate at 12:37 PM on June 18, 2007

Response by poster: I ended up watching from Constitution Hill, which was great because the route passes by twice. It was crowded, but not ridiculously so in my opinion. Later we wandered off to see what the finish line on the Mall and the start at Whitehall looked like. There was actually enough space on Whitehall to get right up to the barriers. In hindsight, I think the best place to watch would have been within sight and earshot of a big screen. Or to bring a portable TV.
posted by grouse at 6:52 AM on July 8, 2007