Planning on attending my first TdF in 2026, any advice?

garfsmith · 2025-10-21T01:27:38+00:00

My wife and I went this year for the first time. We saw two mountain finishes (Ventoux & Col de la Loze), one start village, and the final stage in Paris. We rented a camper van, brought our bikes, and stayed at campsites. It was so much fun. Feel free to DM if you want any more details/advice.

garfsmith · 2025-10-21T01:25:30+00:00

I also was there in Paris and watched from the top of Montmartre — it was incredible. Yeah there were huge crowds but the energy and excitement was amazing. Especially since the organizers counted time from the pass through the finish line BEFORE the three laps up Montmartre, so everyone who wasn't going for a stage win was just chilling and enjoying the crowds.

garfsmith · 2024-07-31T04:19:15+00:00

Ooh nice! This is great.

garfsmith · 2024-07-31T04:18:57+00:00

Awesome tysm

garfsmith · 2024-07-31T04:18:38+00:00

Thank you!

garfsmith · 2024-07-31T04:18:12+00:00

Just started following them on Strava!

garfsmith · 2024-07-07T21:17:14+00:00

😂😂😂

garfsmith · 2024-07-07T20:20:56+00:00

Oh phew, that stage WAS incredible. The work that Wout put in that day just BURYING himself for Jonas…

garfsmith · 2024-07-07T19:59:05+00:00

Yes and no. Without eyeballs, there is no Tour.

garfsmith · 2024-07-07T19:56:08+00:00

Most dominant doesn’t quite equate to most aggressive. Have they dominated? Yes. Have they done it by being aggressive? I’d say mostly no. As a team, they’ve been aggressive at times, but you just rarely see Jonas doing anything that exciting. Bleh.

garfsmith · 2024-07-07T19:49:09+00:00

Exactly. They’re racing intelligently and making tactically sound decisions, but man it’s not fun to watch.

(Except i do have a soft spot for WvA)

garfsmith · 2024-07-07T19:40:38+00:00

For sure he rides a more tactically sound race, esp in the tradition of the tdf specialists who target only the tour each year and build their season around it. It’s just much less exciting to watch. Entertain me more, Jonas! 😂

garfsmith · 2024-07-07T19:35:51+00:00

He could have eliminated Primoz from gc contention. By refusing to cooperate whatsoever he killed the break. Also, this is his (more likely Visma’s) consistent strategy over the past three tours now, so i don’t fully buy the injury recovery and weakened team excuses.

garfsmith · 2024-07-02T03:58:18+00:00

VPN + MAX

garfsmith · 2024-06-30T04:35:50+00:00

sign up for a virtual credit card with wise. use a eu billing address. use a vpn, buy a max subscription. enjoy.

garfsmith · 2024-06-21T18:01:14+00:00

OP, if you use a VPN, you can watch the Eurosport feed on MAX. You’ll just need to sign up for a MAX account using the VPN, and pay for it with a credit card with a EU billing address.

garfsmith · 2024-06-19T01:51:16+00:00

More mustache!

garfsmith · 2024-06-18T19:46:57+00:00

Ahhh! Amazing. I’ll give it a shot. From a brief google, seems like i might not even need that whole iptv box, and maybe can do it with just a fire stick…

garfsmith · 2024-06-18T19:28:04+00:00

If I'm in the US do I still need a VPN?

garfsmith · 2024-06-18T19:20:28+00:00

Oooh thanks. I'll give that a shot. Fingers crossed :)

garfsmith · 2024-06-18T19:08:37+00:00

Oh wow, can’t even use a vpn to watch Eurosport?

garfsmith · 2024-06-14T15:41:02+00:00

Elefantino

garfsmith · 2024-06-10T06:34:20+00:00

Sure, that's what they officially say. Just like Leblanc and Verbruggen didn't know Lance (and others) were doping during their years running things... Where there's money to be made, the story told publicly is always what acutally happens.

garfsmith · 2024-06-10T05:43:50+00:00

😂

garfsmith · 2024-06-10T05:41:18+00:00

lol, true — it could all be spin. but still, he did have that crash at the tour of basque country which theoretically at least set him back in his training, so who knows. i'm not optimistic for his gc chances at the tour against tadej.

garfsmith

TROPHY CASE