Tour de France 2023: will it affect peregrinos?

[LenB]

I just found out that the Grand Depart for this year's Tour is in Bilbao and the first three days of the race (July 1-3) pass through the Basque country to enter France. Might this affect accommodations? I would not expect it to impact those walking, as the peloton will pass any given spot in less than a minute. But, it's the largest sporting event in the world, and there could be plenty of people booking rooms.

 

[SabsP]

The teams most probably book hotels out of the city centre seeing they need some extra space for all the equipment etc.
In general I would be more concerned finding affordable private rooms on the Norte during high summer due to the holidays. Lots of Spaniards themselves go on yearly vacation to the coastal towns in the North.

 

[LenB]

The teams most probably book hotels out of the city centre seeing they need some extra space for all the equipment etc.
In general I would be more concerned finding affordable private rooms on the Norte during high summer due to the holidays. Lots of Spaniards themselves go on yearly vacation to the coastal towns in the North.

I guess I was more concerned about the spectators. The teams and supporting cast number about 4,500. The spectators in tens of thousands. While most of those live along or near the route, some people travel from afar to "follow" several stages of the race each year, moving from place to place.

 

[naplesdon]

I was in San Sebastián over the weekend and will be staying in Biarritz for the next 4 days. Both places are full of tourists and I don’t think many of them are there especially for the TdF.

 

[MassNative]

It might well impact when you can walk on roads on the camino. Yes the Peloton will pass any particular spot quickly, but the stage course will be closed for hours the day of any individual stage. When I was in Annecy in 2018, the barricade fences where up in the center of town 24 hours before the stage came through, and crossing the streets was already a pain.

For example, stage 1 outside of Bilbao, will pass down the BI-737 road between Zamudio through Lezama. Acording to Gronze, that stretch is Camino del Norte. That is 2 kms of camino that might be closed to pedestrians on stage race day (July 1). Or the sidewalks might be packed with waiting spectators.

Looking at the stage and camino maps, it looks like at least two potential points where the two routes cross.

 

[Catastrophi]

BI-737 road between Zamudio through Lezama.

Yes, that stretch will be completely closed from 10:00 h tp 18:00 h, but wont be a problem for pedestrians, unless its packed with spectators. I hope this won't happen in the early hours when the majority of peregrinos walk this section, and the peloton is expected to pass by around 15:00h or so.
People walking this stretch, please walk on the right side of the road. According to the information, the pedestrians should use the pedestrian overpass to cross to Zamudio. This is the only point of crossing open in this stretch. I hope this will be properly marked and also, security personnel are expected to be there. Not sure whether it is possible to take the deviation/alternate path before arriving to Zamudio, as you need to cross the road before reaching the overpass...

 

[SabsP]

Stage tomorrow will cover some villages on the Camino Vasco Interior.

Stage 2 - Vitoria-Gasteiz > Saint-Sébastien - Tour de France 2023

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