Just after the passage of the advertising caravan, it is not uncommon to see spectators, the basket loaded with gadgets, the head wearing a yellow or red cap, take the path of the car even before the arrival of the peloton. Almost half of the 10 to 12 million “visitors” in the Tour de France come, as a priority, for the commercial barnum in the hope of recovering a maximum of gifts launched from the tanks. To fill up on goodies, here are five pipes of “pros”.
- Go for the departure car park
Before getting started every morning around 11 a.m., the 170 vehicles perfectly aligned with around thirty brands in the caravan park on a huge car park, usually 2 km from the catwalks and departure. Good little -known plan: access is open to the public and stocks overflow. It is then enough to ask (politely) a small gift from the distributors who are preparing.
“We did a good fishing,” applaud Corinne and Arnaud, starting from the 3rd stage in Valenciennes (North). In their musette, mini-packets of pasta, t-shirts and half a dozen bobs. “We needed at all costs for our grandchildren who live in the South and who always have the sun,” they smile.
Marina, a 46-year-old aid-house, has garnered candy, sodas and sausages. “It’s nice, I did that on my break time,” she breathes before going back to work.
- Catch the gifts with a landing net or a target
It is a real phenomenon this year: landing nets, butterfly nets, targets with arrows “just aim!” », Basketball baskets, garbage cans … flourish along the route. And it works!
Thanks to its target made “only with recovery” (planter, hoop, electric sheath, shelf, piece of board, etc.), Olivier, 63, crossed in Plachy-Buyon (Somme), received dozens of presents, especially food. “With that, we will be able to last six months,” laughs this former boss of a supermarket. It was his daughter Victoria, 26, who spun the pipe. “I saw this trick on social networks,” she explains.
To multiply their chances, family members positioned themselves in different places, spaced a few meters apart. “We each had our post. Me, I was on the front line, my brother in the second line … it allows us to rasting wide, ”describes Olivier.
In Belbeuf (Seine-Maritime), kids released goals (garden) to collect a mountain of offerings in the nets. “You also have to jump in all directions so that we are seen,” suggests Joseph, 10 years old.
- Try your luck 500 m from the finish
The distribution stops 200 m from the finish, where the large crowds agglutinent. But just before this area prohibited from goodies, suppliers are having a great time. “We have to get empty so everything we have left, we will give it,” whispers a caravan. “At the start too, we are very generous because there are a lot of cameras,” he adds, a smirk.
Other spots rich in gratuities: before the descent just after the top of a pass, the places of slowdowns such as the backs-d’âne, the roundabouts or the turns and the spaces where the crowds are not compact, between two villages of Plaine for example.
- Disguise yourself!
“To attract our attention, we must stand out as much as possible!” The Home Made disguise, it always works, “says Hugues, one of the best ambianceors of the caravan, in action on a chariot of Krys opticians.
Conseminate in inflatable unicorn, super mario, chick, clown, hornet, asterix or obelix, Dark vador or in good sister is very profitable. Even a fluorescent wig can make the difference. “We will reward the intention. And when it catches the eye, it’s easier, “promises” Daminou “, spearhead of pigs for two decades.
Mathys, 6, essential with his dinosaur “combi” in Fresne-l’Achevêque (Eure), can confirm it: he was damn spoiled. It must be said that he also has another argument, a few words written on a sign: “It’s my birthday”. The kid celebrates, in fact, his six years. His father bet on a feline mane. “I cut the lion’s head from a disguise from my son,” he reveals, hilarious.
- Humor is always paying!
The funniest thing is this spectator with the white shirt and red tie which, in front of a desk in a country setting, took out of the signs “do not hide, meeting in progress”, “do not film me, I’m in telework” … Right next to a box intended to receive the goodies!
“We are sensitive to funny signs, word games,” warns Hugues, Krys’ ambassador. On his cardboard target, a comic in Caen (Calvados), for example, made “a small Norman hole” to let the objects offered. In Picardy, the owner of a 206 opened his trunk large, with a cardboard arrow and the “Dembélé president” sign.
Last tip: if you have been very well equipped with gifts by the first vehicles, do not leave your booty apparent, this could dissuade the following distributors who want to keep them for others!
