Press and Media Center

XTERRA France + Tour de France

This July the XTERRA tribe has a chance of a lifetime to visit France, race an XTERRA European Tour event, and see the Tour de France all in one trip.

"July 11 is XTERRA France, held in the idyllic northern Alsacian town of Xanrupt - only 5km from the lake and vacation village of Gerardmer.  Athletes can fly into Lyon, Zurich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Paris and drive there easily.  The village is full of wonderful hotels and restaurants, shops and more," explains Dave Nicholas, the managing director of the XTERRA World Tour.

While in France, this area is an exotic mixture of French and German and Belgium architecture and cuisine.  The XTERRA race is on Sunday the 11th and on Monday athletes can sign up for a special XTERRA tour of the Tour de France on July 12-14.  The tour is conducted by former yellow jersey winner Ronan Pensec. Athletes will be carried in a private motorcoach and can rent road bikes and ride portions of the Tour route.

• Discover the Col du Galibier and the Col du Lautaret and ride the mythical Col de la Madeleine a few hours before the pros.
• See the critical Alpine high-mountain stage 9 – Morzine-Avoriaz / Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
• Witness the start of stage 10 – Chambéry / Gap.
• Option: Climb the Alpe d’Huez – one of the greatest mountain passes in the Alps and stay another day

"The price includes room, breakfast and dinner and pickup at the XTERRA site and delivery to the Lyon airport," said Nicholas. "Race against your European family in XTERRA - enjoy the mountain air and spirit of classic Alsacian France and then see some classic Tour de France. Hey, even wine is included with every dinner.  How can you pass this up?"

Visit http://xterrafrance.free.fr/index.html for information on XTERRA France.  Click on the English flag for info on the race and the Tour.