The fourth Tour de France Femmes women’s bicycle race came to a rousing finish in the Savoie region with French Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot winning the gruelling race and making history in the process as it was her very first participation in the race.  And as in the men’s version of the Tour, as it is known, the colorful caravans that open up the legs of the race remain one of the exciting elements of the event for the spectators as participants toss out goodies to the crowd. One of the most sought after items this year turned out to be the brightly colored and festive sunhat from the house of Teisseire, a partner of the Tour with the American indoor cycling and fitness company Zwift, that was distributed throughout the Tour de France Femmes from July 26th to August 3rd. 

Fruits figured prominently on the sunhat in a nod to the core Teisseire business of creating fresh fruit syrups to turn into refreshing and vitamin and mineral-filled drinks. During the Tour, Teisseire terraces were set up in fan zones around the country to enjoy a refreshing drink made with the house’s traditional syrups as well as four new vitamin-enriched offerings. « Fruit Squads »  were also set up to hand out refreshments to the crowd awaiting the arrival of the racers. Pineapple-mango with vitamin C, peach-guava with magnesium and strawberry-kiwi with the B complex of vitamines were among the offerings. 

The range of Teisseire syrups can count no less than 22 different flavors that can be enjoyed with still water, sparkling water, lemonade or at cocktail hour. With a 60 cl bottle of a natural Teisseire syrup, 39 beverages can be made.  The house of Teisseire was founded in the Alps over 300 years ago by the Teisseire family and its headquarters remain there today in the town of Crolles in the Isère region. Formerly founded, owned and managed by the Teissiere family, its current owner is Britvic, the fifth largest distributor of alcohol-free beverages in France. It is part of the Carlsberg group. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.en.teisseire.com/