Gallery: A look at the Tour de France publicity caravan

This article originally published on BikeRadar

The Tour de France is first and foremost cycling's biggest and most prestigious stage race in the world but preceding the peloton from start to finish is another spectacle: the publicity caravan. Consisting of dozens of elaborately crafted specialty vehicles and taking nearly an hour to pass, it's a daily parade – and a parade of advertising and small giveaways – that, according to the Tour de France, is actually the main draw for nearly 40 percent of spectators on hand.

Take a look at some of the elements that bring all those people in. The Tour de France may be a bicycle race but for at least a portion of the folks at roadside, the peloton is merely a sideshow.

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