Tour De France queen stage 2025: riding and spectating it!

Join @Josh-Reid I on an adventure to the Alps in France with Chamois Butt’r to experience the Tour De France!!! We take on the quee stage (stage 18) the day before the men and then hike to the top of Col de la Loze to cheer them up the final few hundred metres on race day.

A few days filled with boulangeries, bikes, brie and Butt’r (chamois).

Huge thank you to Chamois Butt’r for this trip! And for keeping me chafe free on such long days in the saddle.

—-

Check out my Patreon if you are keen to support me!
https://www.patreon.com/c/MaddyNutt/membership

—-

https://www.instagram.com/maddy_nutty/
https://www.strava.com/pros/6969294

—–
Thanks to my sponsors for supporting me! Lauf, Velocio, Panaracer, G!ro Cycles, Coros, Bikmo, POC and Selle Italia.

Chapters:
0:00 Arriving in France
4:55 Riding the queen stage
7:51 Spectathletes

We are in France. Why are we in France? Let me actually ask my companions. We’re in France. Why are we in France? Well, what’s happening in France right now? Um, lots of things. So, we’re in France for the tour to France. [Music] Car number three. I don’t know how we did that. Flora, are you impressed by our handiwork? I actually am. I really had no faith that this was insane. Three people, two big boy bike boxes, a normal 5-seater car with just a big boot. We’re going to be riding the queen stage of the tour of France. We are going to be riding the queen stage of the tour of France. We’re going to watch the queen stage of the tour. And then we’re going to watch the actual people do it. Get all the swag, all the freebies, all the polter hats. And who do we need to thank for this experience? Uh, only the best uh bum cream cream that you can get for your pilot parts. Tell me butter. I was not called up last minute and Josh was not called up last minute to join Jumbo Bisma in the quest to beat Pagatcha in this year’s tour. Unfortunately, although I obviously submitted my resume with my watts per kilo. Look at that water. We’ve just got the best table. What a treat. She just said if you’d like, you can have this one. Here we’ve got a very French looking kiche. Crocmonsure. She said to us, “I don’t think you’ll know what this is. There’s cheese and ham and it’s on bread.” And we said, “Oh, croc monu.” So nice. Really nice. [Music] Wow. Wow. Look at this view. That’s insane. This is just a contemplation picnic area. Almost want to lie down cuz I just did some efforts and it’s altitude and I didn’t realize there’s a no pee sign. So, I was super lucky to be sent here by Shami Butter. So, they’ve sent us for a little venture and basically we’re going to ride the queen stage of the tour to France the day before the men. So, that’s tomorrow and then we’re going to come and watch the tour on the day that they do the Queen stage which is so exciting cuz I’ve actually never been to the tour to France before and yeah, the atmosphere looks incredible. I’ve never actually ridden in the Alps. Like when I was younger, I rode a mountain bike with my cousin and my sister that like before I started cycling was the last time I was in the Alps. So yeah, this is incredible. I actually just so I just had a session to do and I couldn’t do the efforts cuz I suddenly looked at the signs and it was like altitude 2,000 m and I was like maybe that’s why I’m struggling and it was also like 20%. And I raced 3 days ago. So maybe that’s why I can’t do the efforts. Yeah, Xiaomi Butter looking after us and looking after our butts this trip. I’ve obviously got some of the Shami buser with me. Um, especially going to need that tomorrow because I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to do that longer ride. And Josh hasn’t really ridden since the tour divide. So, it’s going to be a long day out, I think. But, we’re both here for the energy. We’re going to be fueling on croissants and baguettes. I’m just going to do some contemplating my contemplations. I remember that I love riding a bike and despite this crash that cycling is what I want to be doing right now in my life. So, it’s going to get better. I’m going to be able to smile. Such a wonky smile. So unfortunate, but it’s already looking a bit better. It’s been I crashed 3 days ago and you can already kind of see it’s healing. This isn’t very French. But it looks delicious. Yeah, it’s carves for tomorrow. It’s carbs for our ride tomorrow. But also, what’s important? What have we got? A French orange. You literally couldn’t get more French. You could not. Good morning, sunshine. Rise and shine. It is 6:06 a.m. We woke up at half 5 to ride our bikes cuz we love bike riding. Actually, I’m really excited. We’re going to go ride the Queen stage of the tour to France, but not with the men in the race the day before. What’s the distance? So, it’s like 175k, but we’ll also ride home. So, it’ll be about 200 for us with nearly 6,000 m of climbing. So, it’s not too easy. Three massive BS. Yeah, basically we go up, we go down, we go up, we go down, we go up, we go down, and then we’re home. So, it’s easy, you know. One of them is um the cold de la Madlin, which is about exactly how I spell my name. So, I’ve never done that, and I’m excited. But yeah, so a lot of climbing. So obviously we’re like putting in a practice effort now so that Yummy Visma will call us up next year for the tour because they’re going to see how well we’re climbing today. But yeah, it’s a fun ride stopping at all the bakeries and muleries that we find along our way. Maybe not all of them cuz then it will take 12 hours. But yeah, we’re going to have That’s okay. You think that’s okay for that? Yeah. We’re going to have a good day and yeah, go and see who’s out on the course already for tomorrow, which is insane. People are already out there ready. But yeah, we’ll go do it and then when we go watch it ourselves, we’ll know how hard it is. It’s 6 something in the morning. We are about to set off for our little adventure. Here’s our chalet. We have a proper French chalet with Its 10:00 and there’s three of us. It’s luscious. So, we’re going to drive to the start of the Queen stage and then Flora is dropping Josh and I off and then we’re going to ride. Almost forgot to use this which would have been un disaster. How does one fuel for a ride in France? Step one. So, this is an outstanding looking quant. 3 minutes in, we have a problem. It’s a big call. First call of the day. This one’s pretty long. I think it’s like 20k. Need to actually check my facts. But yeah, it’s beautiful. Hard work for sure. You attacking me and coal. I can’t believe how cold it is. Ready for call number two of the day. It is cold Madlin. Excited for this one. Although it’s 20 km. 23 and it’s all red on my corosta. This is going to be hard and it’s raining. Just a minor coal. We are on the cold de la Madlin and it’s 20k and we just done 10. Um I just got caught out influencing. We just done 10k. Um I’m just waiting for Josh. He’s gone and had a hari bow break. I think this is a long climb. Like 20k. It’s I’m loving it. Like, this is such a nice climb. I quite like this kind of climb and gradient cuz you just kind of like settle into a bit of a pace and you just keep up. But I might text him cuz I can’t see him. See if he’s okay. I hope there’s no more mechanicals. You all right? I think too soon, buddy. Wow, that’s gorgeous. Yeah, look at all these caravans. Found Josh. We’re going again. We’re getting moving. We’ve not gone long left. Messy. What happened, buddy? Um, it was getting dark and it was raining and we decided to be sensible and not finish our ride in pitch black with no lights. Well, you decided to be sensible. Yeah. Josh was like, “Come on, do it. And I was like, Josh, it’s a 27k climb at 7%. And it’s going to take us 3 hours or at least two. And we only had 2 hours of sunlight. And then then we had to get home. So yeah, one rear light. With one rear light. So I was sensible, Sally. And I said, “No, we’re going home now.” And wasn’t it a good decision when your tire then punctured? That is the end of the ride to France. Day two, we’re going to go and hike to the top of Colder Lo. Hopefully, we’ll get a ski lift partway up. Let’s hope. Um to go and watch the men’s finish, which is super exciting. I’ve actually never been to the tour before, so looking at the atmosphere from yesterday, it’s going to be insane. What’s this important supply that we’re packing? Prince Goo chocolate. They’re They’re the good stuff, aren’t they? We have made an abrupt stop, a U-turn, because we’ve spotted an incredible looking bunery. I don’t know. But we want a belonger. Maybe to the left. It’s the little Marmet’s base. Too good. We need a French bakery this morning. Got croissants. And then there we go. The gondilas are free for tour spectating. Perfect. I wonder if there’ll be any screens up there. I hope so. Probably will be. Otherwise, we’ll have to use our phones. Guys, this is already quite hard. We just set off on our hike. Apparently, it’s going to be an hour and a half. So, I’ve got crossroant in my pocket, baguette in my backpack. I think I’m going to make it to the top. Josh. Yeah. Flora’s gone off pie. Looking for moss. Fueling strategy for today is French items. We started with panacha. We’re now on a panakala on. Got a baguette in my bag. Reckon I can make it to the top of the coal before the men do. The pilgrimage. Flora, what is our one mission for today? Just really want a spotty top. Josh, what did you get? Uh, a casket with a bit of loft. [Music] One kilometer to go. Wow. [Music] Thank you. [Music] T-shirt, man. It’s literally like a fight. Oh my god. winner. Just really want a spotty top. Laura, what did you get? Yes. [Music] The content cap. People are ready. [Music] We are shivering because we we’re just in a hail stom, but you know, they’re about to finish, so the excitement is going to warm us up. We’ve got some flags to wave and yeah, they’re going to come through. [Applause] This is so intense. [Applause] Go, go, go. [Applause] We need to get content of the Aver. [Applause] Tonight’s going to be a good good night. [Applause] Ready to go back down. We’re eating actual French food. Wait, Josh isn’t. He’s got spring rolls. I’ve got a cot beans. I’ve got French fries. French fries? Are they French? Well, they’ve got to be French, haven’t they? They’re called French fries. It is the final morning here in France. Josh and I are going to go and ride the last coal that we missed the other day. We’re just going to go do a loop. It’s going to be about 2 and 1 half hours, I think, cuz it’s hard climbing here. It’s quite slow. And um yeah, and then get on the road. And I’ve got a wedding tomorrow, so I need to get home tonight. I think they’re going to try and see if they can catch more of the race this weekend. Yeah. How are we feeling, buddy? Good. It’s a bit cold. It’s a bit foggy, but this climb’s not too bad. It’s actually quite nice. Made it to the top. Yeah. We’re done. We finished the queen stage. Desend. Oh, yeah. We got to descend. We got to go back and find some bread. That was beautiful. Look at that climb. That’s honestly stunning. [Music] Thank you, Shami Butter, for this amazing trip. Where am I going to put this? There’s not many spaces. Hold on. Um, there we go. [Music]