I went to a stage start in Bastogne near me this year after seeing a couple of the men's race stages in Burgundy. You can definitely get to see the riders better as there are less people there and less separation of the riders from the public but it's not quite the spectacle of the men's race. All that said, there were lots of kids around and the riders seemed happy to stop to interact with spectators on the way to and from the podium.
Caravan isn't much to write home about, it's mostly the key sponsors and passes in a few minutes so if that's a draw that could be a problem. Again, though, because it's smaller, the people on the caravan seemed to make sure that most kids seemed to get stuff.
I went to a stage start in Bastogne near me this year after seeing a couple of the men's race stages in Burgundy. You can definitely get to see the riders better as there are less people there and less separation of the riders from the public but it's not quite the spectacle of the men's race. All that said, there were lots of kids around and the riders seemed happy to stop to interact with spectators on the way to and from the podium.
Caravan isn't much to write home about, it's mostly the key sponsors and passes in a few minutes so if that's a draw that could be a problem. Again, though, because it's smaller, the people on the caravan seemed to make sure that most kids seemed to get stuff.