Dangerous Roads

Le Passage de Gois ou Gôa is a natural, periodically flooded passage leading to the island of Noirmoutier in France. It is located between Île de Noirmoutier and Beauvoir-sur-Mer, in the department of Vendée. It is flooded twice a day by the high tide. The Passage du Gois is a 2.58-mile paved sandbar that’s flooded twice a day at high tide. When it isn’t submerged, this narrow causeway—flanked by fishing boats and littered with errant clumps of seaweed—is a slippery stretch indeed and especially treacherous on two wheels: in 1999, a domino-effect spill took down nearly half of the Tour de France’s peloton.



In 1999 Passage du Gois was used by Tour de France bicycle race during Stage 2. It proved to be decisive for the race after a fall took place because of its slippery surface.



The crash created a six minute split in the peloton which ended the hopes of many favourites to win the race, like Alex Zülle, who would eventually finish second overall, seven minutes after Lance Armstrong. Passage du Gois was used again in 2011 as the starting point of the first stage.



Every year, a foot race – the Foulées du Gois– is held across it, starting at the onset of the high tide.