{"id":5476,"date":"2014-07-10T08:53:44","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T07:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/?p=5476"},"modified":"2014-11-18T20:57:43","modified_gmt":"2014-11-18T19:57:43","slug":"race-best-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2014\/07\/10\/race-best-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"The Race For Top Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dawn breaks as dark silhouettes rise from the fog carrying folding chairs, flags and banners.\u00a0 The peloton is not due for another eight hours, but the fans have already jockeyed for position.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Madame Marie prepared the evening before by packing her baguettes, a blanket and a thermos full of hot tea, an arrangement her and her friends made a long time ago. \u201cThere will never be a chance like this again,\u201d she cheerfully claims their preselected spot above the ditch along the heart of the course. Wrapped in blankets and protected by umbrellas they are already tucking into their refreshments in anticipation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2014\/07\/best_15.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5477\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2014\/07\/best_15-480x269.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"269\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>(The caravans are lining the route. Photo: WeLoveCycling.com)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The caravan owners arrive the day before the race with their temporary homes lining the route.\u00a0 In the morning, they start decorating their mobile abodes with flags, ad posters and banners while spending the rest of their time exchanging opinions with their \u2018neighbours\u2019 on who will take the next stage. Such discussions are more banter than benefit since predicting the winner of each stage is nearly impossible. Choosing and planning according to the stage profile and moving on the day before is always a better option, otherwise searching for the ideal spot is futile.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2014\/07\/The-Race-For-The-Best-Spot-4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2014\/07\/The-Race-For-The-Best-Spot-4-620x348.jpg\" alt=\"The-Race-For-The-Best-Spot-4\" width=\"620\" height=\"348\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-25404\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>(Those who want the best spot have to be there early. Photo: WeLoveCycling.com)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBe early and have patience\u201d has to be the fans creed when searching for dream spots since after making your claim, you\u2019re in for the long haul. The only reward you get, besides the colourful gifts thrown from the advertising caravans, is the few seconds a bunch of cyclists pass by. Then you either move on or go home and wait for next year.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2014\/07\/The-Race-For-The-Best-Spot-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2014\/07\/The-Race-For-The-Best-Spot-1-620x348.jpg\" alt=\"The-Race-For-The-Best-Spot-1\" width=\"620\" height=\"348\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-25405\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>(Madam Marie and her friends. Photo: WeLoveCycling.com)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Although more than content with this year\u2019s race, Madame Marie was waiting for almost ten hours before her \u2018heroes\u2019 quickly cycled past her eyes within the span of a minute. \u201cMe and my friends had a great day and it was something I may never have a chance to see again. I am so excited right now,\u201d she laughs while packing up. Then she headed out for a glass of wine while the caravans, already moving on to their next top spot, drove past her and her friends.<\/p>\n<p><em>Text: Jan Hanzl\u00edk<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dawn breaks as dark silhouettes rise from the fog carrying folding chairs, flags and banners.\u00a0 The peloton is not due [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-5476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Race For Top Spot - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dawn breaks as dark silhouettes rise from the fog carrying folding chairs, flags and banners.\u00a0 The peloton is not due for another eight hours, but the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2014\/07\/10\/race-best-spot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Race For Top Spot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dawn breaks as dark silhouettes rise from the fog carrying folding chairs, flags and banners.\u00a0 The peloton is not due for another eight hours, but the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2014\/07\/10\/race-best-spot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-10T07:53:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-18T19:57:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2014\/07\/The-Race-For-The-Best-Spot-featured3.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2014\/07\/10\/race-best-spot\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2014\/07\/10\/race-best-spot\/\",\"name\":\"The Race For Top Spot - 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