PAU, France — By European standards, the two motor homes sitting behind the five-star Hotel Parc Beaumont were gigantic: measuring 37 and 40 feet in length with pop-out sides that consumed the width of a lane. They were also at the center of a new round of debate over the Tour de France becoming too big for its own good.
The motor homes, one of which was built in Alabama, were intended to be the latest weapon of Team Sky, which includes the current Tour leader, Chris Froome. The British team, which is believed to have the largest budget in professional cycling, planned to have Froome and two other top riders spend the three weeks of the Tour sleeping in motor homes rather than in hotels, the quality of which varies greatly from town to town.