GAVARNIE-GÉDRE, France — Millions of people travel to the Tour de France every year, almost all of them on purpose. This is the story of three people who did so by accident.
While waiting for the riders to make their way up to Gavarnie-Gédre for the finish of Stage 6, I took a little stroll out to see the Cirque du Gavarnie. The beautiful glacial amphitheater houses the tallest waterfall in mainland France, and the final climb of Thursday's racing made up for its unselective profile by at least finishing in an incredible atmosphere. After taking a little cool-off dip in a crisp stream made pearlescent by eroded minerals, I spotted three people who definitely didn't belong. Antonio, Teresana, and Federico were decked out in backpacking gear, talking to a local official, and displaying the universal body language of people who have found themselves in a Bit Of A Situation.
I knew I had to talk to these guys. They seemed fun, and like they had a story. Both turned out to be correct.
The logistics of the Tour de France are staggering, and they require, for example, hundreds of kilometers of road closures every day. Authorities have to shut down not only the roads that cyclists will race on, but also every possible access point to those main roads, well before the race starts—and those roads have to remain closed long after the race ends, to ensure riders and organizers can leave to get prepared to do it all again the next day. Attendees have to plan far ahead, and anyone who wanted a primo spot on the Tourmalet had to park their camper van up on the mountain before the race even started in Barcelona one week earlier. The same day I ran into the backpackers, President Emmanuel Macron made his annual visit to the Tour.
There's something lovely here. A primetime Pyrenean stage can be seen from the side of an unremarkable road by anyone who wanted to park on the flat run-in to all the climbing; it can be seen from the slopes of one of the most legendary climbs in the race by someone who planned their entire month around it; it can be seen by a tiny head of state who helicoptered in and brought a retinue of heavily tooled-up security; and it can be seen by random chance, by three friends who came to the Pyrenees for the same reason the Tour does, for the range's rugged beauty and its challenge. One can't just stumble upon any other major sporting event in the world.
I chatted with the trio of backpackers about their predicament for a bit, then parted ways, having exchanged numbers and planning to talk after the race at some point. But shortly after the finish, about two hours later, I ran into them again as they were strolling through Gavarnie-Gédre, beers in hand. They all sort of took turns talking as we walked, at one point getting into a protracted discussion of whether they camped at 1,300 or 2,600 meters. Here's their story. The following conversation has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity:
Defector: First of all, how did you end up here in Gavarnie, and what was the plan?
Backpacking trio: What day is it today? Thursday, yeah, so we started on Monday. We did three nights of camping, and planned to do three or four nights of camping before moving by bus through France and Switzerland. We're backpacking now, but the plan was mostly to sleep on buses as we made our way back to Milan, and then finally to Napoli.
How does running into the Tour screw you?
The plan was to hike out at Gavarnie, then catch a bus to Lourdes, and then on to Bordeaux, where we have tickets for an overnight bus to Lyon. But the roads are closed, so I don't know how we're going to get down from here.
That's a bit of a situation, but I think you can find a way down. First, I want to hear a little more about the trip. So you crossed over the Pyrenees today?
The trip was amazing. We first stayed on a refuge on the Spanish side, then we hiked up to a refuge on top of a mountain that was at 2,600 meters. We came through the Bréche de Roland yesterday, and finally stayed up in the Cirque du Gavarnie last night. That was the best night of the trip, since the waterfall was right in front of us. We had to do an emergency bivouac because we didn't find somewhere to sleep, so we just found some grass where we could stay the night.
We were trying to book a campsite in Gavarnie, and we were wondering why everything was booked. Now we know.
When did you first realize something strange and potentially derailing was happening?
It was a French guy who told us. We found this abandoned cabin like halfway, in a valley, and were staying there to rest and eat lunch at like 5 p.m. Some people use it as a refuge. Some guys came to the cabin and asked us if we were going to Gavarnie for the Tour de France. At that moment, we discovered that the Tour de France was happening here, which was why we couldn't find any place to stay.
How did that feel, learning that? Were you excited, or were you like, "Oh, we're screwed?"
It's a really fun surprise. The town is full of people, and everything is fun and everyone is like partying. So yeah, it's a really good vibe, but also we're a bit screwed, no? We were like, Oh my god, where are we going now? Because we don't know where to sleep tonight.
Oh wow, here they come!
[The crowd cheers as stragglers from the day's racing ride into town]
We were planning to sleep on the bus tonight, but that's not happening. So we're finding an out-of-the-way spot to place our tent. We asked the emergency guys over there where we should go, and they said maybe we could put it in one of the the parking spots.
What were people saying to you about the race?
That we should support someone named Paul, but that the Slovenian guy was going to win. We asked if there were any good Italians to follow and people weren't totally sure, everyone gave us different answers. Someone was really insistent that we support Marco Frigo, so I guess we'll do that.
You guys should cheer for Davide Piganzoli, he's cool. Have any of you watched bike racing before, and are you having fun, even if the Tour got in the way?
I haven't watched cycling ever, probably just with my uncles, because they love to follow the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. But yes, it's really fun! A very nice vibe. We even decided to not even try to hitchhike tonight, and instead just stay the night here and have fun with the people.
***
Later that night, Federico texted me that they switched up the plan and had successfully hitchhiked on to Lourdes, where they'd continue their journey on back around to Italy the long way.
