There’s a reason Nice was chosen for the final day of this year’s Tour de France. It’s perfectly set up for road cyclists
Words Emma Cole Photography Samantha Saskia Dugon
Big Ride: Nice
Nice is a cycling city. Nestled on the southern coast of France, it has the pleasant climate and relaxed atmosphere of a Riviera beach resort, but turn away from the azure waters of the Mediterranean and your gaze is drawn upwards to the foothills of the French Alps. Is it any wonder that so many pro cyclists decide to call Nice home, or that the city is such a magnet for riders looking to escape the winter cold?
It’s mid-March when Cyclist visits, and while the weather back home is constant rain and a temperature struggling to get into double figures, in Nice the morning sun is warm and I find myself in bibshorts and a short-sleeve jersey for the first time in a long while. The bike path on the Promenade des Anglais – the road along the seafront so named because it was paid for by English expats in the 1800s – is a constant flow of cyclists. An unidentifiable rider in Team TotalEnergies pro kit flits past, followed shortly after by EF Education-EasyPost’s Neilson Powless.
Just in case anyone was still not convinced that this is a city dedicated to cycling, a large billboard has been erected that is counting down the days until the Tour de France arrives. In 2024, for the first time ever, the Tour won’t finish in Paris. Instead – so as not to clash with the Olympics – the Grande Boucle’s final day has had to find to find a new home, and the place the organisers have chosen is Nice.
Cafe culture
Our ride today starts from Café du Cycliste, located by the harbour in Nice. While best known now for its line of cycling apparel, the brand began life as a cafe in Nice and is still based here. More importantly, it’s still a cafe, so we can sip a coffee before picking up our rental bikes (also available at Café du Cycliste) and heading out into the sunshine.
My guide is Lucie Denis, who knows the roads around Nice intimately and tells me she does hundreds of kilometres here on her fixie. I suspect I’m going to have my work cut out today. We hug the coastline and start with a warm-up on Mont Boron, a small climb that runs through a peaceful park frequented by locals walking their dogs.
We’re barely a
