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Canadian Cycling Magazine editor Dan Dakin is at the Tour de France for the final four stages. On Thursday, he spent the day in Asson, a tiny village in the south of France, where the Tour passed through on Stage 17. The city was a popular spot to watch the race because of a dangerous 90-degree right-hand turn in the middle of town, and because it the feed zones were just before, and just after that section.

Thousands of fans - from small children to senior citizens, and from all over the world - lined the course in the pouring rain Thursday morning waiting for the race to arrive. If you’ve never been here, the Tour de France is part circus, part Super Bowl and part serious bike race.

While the race only passes by each section of the course for literally a few seconds, it’s preceded by dozens of official vehicles. First come the technical cars checking out the course. Then comes the race caravan - a parade of sponsor vehicles and floats handing out goodies including hats, shirts, food, water, newspapers, pens and product samples. Fans along the route scramble to pick everything up.  

Finally, about 45 minutes after the caravan rolls through, the Tour itself arrives. French police arrive first, then Tour commissaries, cameramen, neutral support, riders, team cars - it’s a bit of organized chaos. Unless you’re on one of the massive climbs, such as Thursday’s 18.5 ascent up Col de Tourmalet, the riders flash past so fast it’s tough to make out who’s who. But for the hundreds of thousands of fans lining each stage, the Tour is bigger than any one rider they might be looking for.