So my friends and I have somewhat planned our trip around being able to see a stage of the Tour De France this July. Early on we identified stage 17 as one of the best stages to see for a few reasons. first, it should be a very exciting stage since it is the last high mountain stage of the tour, and the big names will probably be going after it. Second, with the way our trip was falling, we would have to see either one of the first stages, up near belgium, or one of the last, so we chose the latter. As of now, we are planning on traveling from Rome, and stopping off in Nice for a couple days. Here is where my question comes in. I guess I’m planning on leaving midday of our second day in Nice to take a train to Lourdes and stay over night the night before the stage in Lourdes. Here is a link to the map with pinpoints on Lourdes, the start and finish points, and the Cul de Tourmelet, which is the point we would like to watch from. http://g.co/maps/cvn… Our plan would be to then, either the night after we watch the tour or the next morning, take a train to Barcelona, spend a few days there and then fly Home.

My quaestions are:
1) Are we spreading ourselves to thin, is traveling going to take over our last week or so of our trip?
2) Has anyone here ever been to a stage, and do you have any advice on viewing the stage (ie: how you get from the town you’re staying in to the mountainside)?
3) From the info I’ve given, does any one have any suggestions as to a better plan?

Thanks for your help