Ride the Tour de France time trial route in Nice, as city gears up for four-day party (+ video)

The French city of Nice is gearing up for a four-day party as it prepares to welcome the Tour de France this summer, including giving amateur cyclists an opportunity to roll down the Tour start ramp and ride the route of this year’s Stage 4 in an individual time trial with 2,500 participants – a kind of Étape du Tour contre-le-montre.

Entries for that event, which covers 24.1 kilometres and takes place on Sunday 30 June, can be made on the www.asochallenges.com website from 11 April.

The four-day extravaganza, running from 29 June to 2 July when the Stage 4 team time trial takes place in the city on the Côte d’Azur, will be centred on an open space venue on the famous Promenade des Anglais where last Sunday Sylvain Chavanel won the penultimate stage of Paris-Nice.

As well as exhibitions and other events, there will also be big screens so that fans can watch the action from the opening three stages on Corsica. You can find more information here.