Tour de France fans can watch the race for free from Thibaut Pinot’s farm

Experiencing the Tour de France up close is the ultimate cycling thrill for almost every fan. Many supporters have long enjoyed passing riders on the roadside after the caravan has gone by, collecting the souvenirs it hands out. But if you want to experience the Tour this year, you can do so free of charge at Thibaut Pinot’s farm.

Pinot was a professional cyclist from 2010 to 2023 and enjoyed some great success. In the colours of Groupama-FDJ, he won three stages in the Tour de France and stood on the podium of La Grande Boucle in 2014. He also won the Tour of Lombardy in 2018. At the age of 33, he walked away from the sport, because he had a different dream.

He became a farmer. He moved to Mélisey, the tiny village where the Frenchman was born, just south of the Vosges. That is exactly where the Tour de France will visit in July. During stage 13 to Belfort there is a sprint point in the village, a little more than 60 kilometres from the finish. Pinot has therefore joined forces with Airbnb and the Tour de France organisers.

The French climber will make his beautiful farm available for four days and three nights to one lucky family. If you are the guest, plenty is included. There will be a barbecue with the Pinot family, and you can also meet the cows, Highland cattle, donkeys and the other animals on the property.

But the highlight is the Tour itself. The package includes access to the Tour de France paddock. You can also ride in the caravan, and you even get a helicopter flight, allowing you to follow the Tour from above. That must cost a lot, right? Well, no. The lucky family, up to six people, does not have to pay anything for the experience.

There is hardly a better way to follow the Tour de France. “It is a peaceful part of the world and I am so proud and excited to share it with guests for the first time,” Pinot says on the Airbnb website. Applications open on 19 June at 10am. Be quick, because it is first come, first served.

Author David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]