Here's a quick ride report for l'Etape du Tour 2024. Every year, Tour de France promoters organize an amateur ride on a moutain stage in the week before the main professional event. This year's was the hilliest ever, with four mountain passes and 15,000ft of elevation [1]. I had a great day on the bike, but only rode two passes out of the four. I didn't make the time cutoff after the descent of col de Turini, we were directed to either ride back to Nice, or take a shuttle to the finish in Beuil. I rode towards Nice, and Alison picked me up in St-Martin-du-Var. As I later learned from knowledgeable friends, slow riders like myself need to find spots in early start groups to make the cutoff times. I was in the last starting group (15 out of 15, 8:45am rollout), the first riders left two hours before. County police require hard cutoff times to reopen roads to car traffic. I was a bit disappointed because my legs felt good and I was game to ride more, but it was a gorgeous day in the saddle. Overall travel logistics were OK, but next time I'll try and go completely car-less, car rental logistics in heavy tourist traffic was a hassle. Also, this was a mass-start event with about 14,000 riders. On the flip side, roads were closed to traffic, so I could descend without worrying about incoming traffic. On the other hand, that's a big crowd, and that always comes with some chaos. My main takeaway: the backcountry above Nice is absolutely stunning, with wide forested valleys and majestic granite faces. I'll come back touring or riding brevets. [1] Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3151949565008953956