Along the Route des Grands Crus de Bourgogne, admiring crowds gather to cheer on the riders of the 2024 Tour de France, with bottles of wine—or cans of beer—kept fresh in coolers. Thierry Gaudillère captures the high seriousness and summer fun in images and words. Additional photography by Jon Wyand.
Atop a blue cooler, his yellow hair the color of the famous jersey, a boy sits with his little flag of the Côte d’Or as Mickey Mouse waves to him from a passing truck. An engraved stone plaque at his back proudly declares, “Montrachet, Marquis de Laguiche.” He (the boy, not the marquis) eagerly awaits the riders of the 2024 Tour de France as they compete in the race’s sixth and seventh stages. Between Chassagne- and Puligny-Montrachet, they will whizz by between grands crus Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet on either side of the road. The roll call of famous names among the racers is equally impressive: Cavendish, Evenepoel, Pogačar, Vingegaard…
The cycling champions pay homage to the best-known Burgundian climats—but fleetingly, en passant, at more than 30mph (50km/h), with both hands firmly on the handlebars and no doffing of the casques de vélo. First, the great white wines of Chassagne and Puligny; then, during a time trial, the reds of Gevrey-Chambertin. They bring together two very different worlds—elite cyclists and their enthusiastic fans, from all over Europe, and lovers of Burgundy wines. A cooler is the essential accoutrement for all of them, to keep cold bottles of wine or cans of beer, because it is early July and the heat is torrid. The most far-sighted have unfolded tables, chairs, and parasols. “I came for the advertising caravan,” says a cheery mustachioed man sporting a polka-dot cap and a green T-shirt touting the PMU (the state-controlled betting system). He had come from the neighboring region of Franche-Comté with his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Flags in the colors of France and the Tour de France are planted or waved. Many of the spectators are there for the freebies distributed from the sponsors’ vehicles that lead the procession, well ahead of the racers. They dish out caps and T-shirts, alcohol-free beer (not wine), cheeses and sausages, discount vouchers for the Parc Astérix or Disneyland Paris. To win the favor of the gift-givers, some savvy would-be recipients brandish homemade cardboard signs festooned with the brand of their preferred booty: “It’s better to attract attention,” says one with a knowing smile. And it works. Witness the boy wearing four hats.
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More reserved and serious, a young Spanish couple and their daughter picnic on the edge of premier cru Les Demoiselles. In their cycling clothes, they show their love for the sport and the Lotto–Soudal team. But they know their Burgundy wines, too. Shortly before Remco Evenepoel, the star of the Soudal team, reaches them, they ceremoniously remove from their cooler, at the ideal temperature, an Aligoté from Sylvain Pataille with which to toast their rider and wash down their cheese and charcuterie.
Farther on, for a young woman with only the sausage, it’s all beer. Or water for the children too young to drink alcohol. The atmosphere is carefree and happy. Jokes and laughter abound. Amateur cyclists pedal past at a leisurely pace, not in any race. Everyone is relaxed—even the gendarmes.
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Few lining the Route des Grands Crus care about the price or reputation of the wines born only a few feet away—at least €1,000 a bottle for Montrachet, whose 8ha (20 acres) normally produce fewer than 40,000 bottles a year, sought after by affluent wine lovers all around the world. All that matters this sunny day in July is the joy of being there, with family and friends, with complete strangers, to share a special moment along this time-honored path.
In less than two minutes, all 174 racers have whooshed by, gone almost before they can take the applause. The grapes and wine will need much more time.
