"It was incredible": Nicolas Dalmasso from the Côte d'Azur talks about his experience during the 2025 Tour de France

The 2025 Tour de France stage is a cyclosportive event held annually since 1993. It is one of the largest annual gatherings of cyclists in the world.

This year, Nicolas Dalmasso, a 35-year-old real estate agent from Roquebrune-sur-Mer living in the La Plage district, was able to take part among 16,000 participants.

The route? " This year the start was from Albertville and the finish was in La Plagne, with 131km on the program and 4,500m of elevation gain, 5 passes, including 2 hors catégorie and some legendary ones of the tour like the Col des Saisies, the Col du Pré, the Cormet de Roselend and the climb of La Plagne," he rewinds.

He finished 3,529th in 6 hours and 55 minutes out of 13,634 finishers. But beyond the performance, it was obviously the pleasure of racing in the main stage that prevailed for this cycling enthusiast.

Grandson of Roger Garcia

" I've always loved cycling since I was little, watching the Tour de France every year on TV since I was 5, and seeing Richard Virenque win the polka dot jersey in particular. I was a fan of the mountain stages," says the young man, who certainly has a lot to take after, as he is the grandson of the iconic honorary president of the Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Cycling Club, Roger Garcia.

For him, this race has a symbolic character and above all an opportunity to race like the riders in the peloton. " It is often the queen stage and it takes place a few days before the pros pass through in the same conditions with closed roads, start village, security with cars, motorbikes, police officers and above all a lot of people to encourage us, it was incredible to see people, some of whom had crossed France. It was stage number 19 of this year."

Great memories for this cycling enthusiast who collected a friend's bib a few days before the start.