Behind the scenes: VIP Tour de France winners overview

"The Skoda VIP hosts in Grenoble did very well considering our day was day 20 in a row of hosting VIPs. At the welcome dinner the night before we sat with Chris Froome, four time Tour de France winner. He is the loveliest guy, very modest and friendly with amazing stories of pushing through pain and mental barriers day after day. On (our) race day he was mobbed by fans wanting his autograph - and this was just in the VIP area!

It was an early 7.15am start. Our driver for the whole day was Staf Scheirlinckx, a former professional rider from Belgium who has ridden in all three Grand Tours of France, Italy and Spain. We drove to the start and were ushered into the VIP area and Skoda hospitality tent. Just before the race began Staf took us to the Astana team bus as the riders were saddling and introduced us to Aaron Gate who is a New Zealander from Auckland.

After that he drove us to an area not far from the place where true racing is allowed to start and we waited with a large crowd for the riders to pass which they eventually did in a big, fast bunch. Then we quickly walked to four helicopters with the other Skoda VIPs and flew in formation up the valley over the peloton.

After the helicopter ride and a BBQ we got into the race. We had to wait until a few riders fell back and then Staf radioed the race controller for permission to enter the race “bubble” between the slow riders and the yellow jersey.

In the bubble there were no road rules and he gradually worked his way through the peloton. It was slow uphill with heaps of fans. As we went past riders Staf would often slow down and give them pep talks. Some accepted cool cans of coke".

- Richard Thompson

"On the downhill sections everything happened incredibly quickly and we had white-knuckle rides. Staf had warned us about how fast he will be going on the descents. Not to worry because the road is closed and he knows what he’s doing. Okaay…

I’ve never travelled so fast on a windy road and there was no room for error or brake failure! Staf handled the car beautifully. He said cyclists can get up to 100km/hr on these sections and they seemed to disappear so quickly. Just before the finish line the cars were diverted and we went into a VIP viewing area on the last corner where we could join with the crowd drumming the barriers and cheering the riders.

I was amazed at how many fans there were throughout the race and how far they would have walked or cycled to get to their place. It is all over very quickly at the beginning, but later on the riders get very spread out so it is probably more fun for the fans who cheer them and run alongside shouting “Allez, Allez, Allez!” Some outfits were incredible. It reminded us of the Sevens in NZ.

It was a big surprise how fast the riders were, and that they managed to cover such a huge distance with those incredible climbs in just a few hours. The stage we were on is one of the most famous because of the steep hot climbs and hairy descents. Unbelievable example of human strength and endurance.

We felt extremely lucky to be there in such a privileged position. Staf told us that the VIP places are very highly prized and I can see why. I also enjoyed talking branding and business with a Skoda executive who travelled with us for a while." - Richard Thompson