Tim Schamber

Words: Jeremy Whittle Image: Gruber Images If the Côte d’Azur has always been a magnet to creatives, with painters and poets flocking to seek inspiration in the South of France, then Nice has also long been a haunt for everyone from Jean Cocteau to Elton John, Richard Burton to Bono, Davis Beckham to Lewis Hamilton.

Words: John Wilcockson Images: Gruber Images The manner in which Paul Seixas revealed to an expectant world on May 4 that he was going to ride the Tour de France this July said more about his personality than he’d shown at any of his previous public actions. Not for him a corporate press release, nor a statement in a formal setting. No. In a 94-second Instagram video, a playful Seixas is visiting with his paternal grandparents at their home in the French Alps.

Words: Peter Cossins Illustrations: Matthew Burton Pastoralists and environmentalists play out a little game on what has become one of the Tour de France’s favorite Pyrenean climbs. At the very top of the Mur de Péguère, 3.2 kilometers of gravity-defying grind for even the Pogačars and Vingegaards of the cycling world, a message is daubed right across the tarmac. Most of the time the huge capital letters declare: NON A L’OURS (“No to the bear”).