Thursday July 18th - Cool 18ºC, misty and overcast, then afternoon is 40ºC for 15 mins and back to 24°C
Marco Pantani's record Alp d'Huez
The start of the 14k climb
Road to Alp d'Huez - did we really cycle up this yesterday. It's steep!
Our little possie on Alp d'Huez
Looking down the mountain
Catching freebies from the caravan
And it's like this for 14k to the top
Time for a mouthful of lunch
Waiting, waiting, waiting
Even the devil is on Alpd d'Huez
At last they arrive
Christophe Riblon leads the way
Contador tries to catch up
The Skye team leads the peloton
Christopher Froome sits in behind
Spare bikes follow the team
Today is Alp d'Huez day of the Tour de France. And we're here on this day to see it go up the Alp d'Huez twice - never before has this been done. We find a nook about 2k up from the bottom on a steep part where they are supposed to be travelling slowly, and wait for 5hrs. It's o up close and personal and exciting. Then we see the exciting finish at Jani's house with Christophe Riblon winning at an average speed of 35kph - our average yesterday was 6.5kph - their speed is insane.
Breakfast is busy and exciting with everyone explaining how they were going in different directions to see the Tour de France today. Le Tour supposed to arrive at the bottom of Alp d'huez at 3.34pm, and then again at 5.04pm. And the caravan, the hundreds of cars with sponsors goodies arrives 2 hrs before, so we plan to be somewhere on the Alp d'Huez by 12.30pm to find a possie.
We have a leisurely morning catching up with home, checking train timetables for our last day in Annecy, and scooting off 3k down to the large Casino supermarket to buy today and tomorrow's lunch which we can store in the fridge at the Gite - very handy.
Ar midday we're off to town to park our bikes at Jani's house near the foot of Alp d'Huez - very convenient - and then walk about 2k up to find a possie on a steep part of the climb, just past the start where Marco Pantanis' record time of 37 minutes is emblazoned on the road. It doesn't really matter where you are on the mountain, so long as it's steep and they are going slow enough so you can actually see their face instead of watching them whiz by on the flat where you only see a blur. We see a piece of kerbing to sit on with our backs agains a rock face and there we sit for the next 5 hours.
We meet the Dutch family next to us. They have already walked 8k from a camping ground up the valley and they have been following the tour for a week. Not much happens in the way of Le Tour for a few hours but there's plenty activity. It's such a beautiful setting looking up and down the people lined road with mountains and forests in the backdrop. And the great thing is it's slightly overcast and about 22ºC. Perfect Tdf weather.
After 2 hours, the caravan arrives - loads of goodies chucked at the waiting croud. Ian's wish is for a yellow UCL cap to replace the worn grubby one he salvaged last year on Le Tour at Grand St Colombier. And as it turns out, he's standing in the perfect spot on a bend in the corner to collect everything coming our way - caps, key rings, lollies, sausages, chips, hand clappers, blowup seats, movie tickets, Skoda hats, twisties, and on it goes. We're like kids in a lollie shop.
The caravan comes and goes and it's time for lunch before the real deal - Le Tour - arrives. It's a picnic of guess what - bread, ham, tomato, cheese and lettuce - but it's always nice. There's hoons and devils and stunt riders and Mexican Waves (starting from a bunch of drunk Aussies up the road) and never a dull moment. Then all of a sudden the helicopters are thuddering and chuddering above, police cars are and motorcycles screaming past, and the first riders appear - 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Christophe Riblon from the Ag2R La Mondiale team leads a bunch and then a few minutes later there's Contador (Boo) and 5 minutes later the Skye team lead the peloton with Christopher Froome tucked in behind.
We miss Cadel Evans as the last riders whizz past. Now we have another 1hr 30 minute wait til they get to the top and ride down into the valley and up again. And the sun has just come out from behind a cloud and it's 40C - boiling hot sitting against a rock. We wouldn't last 5 hrs in this heat. But no one moves. They came to see the Alp d'Huez twice and that's what they'll do. There's no caravan this time - and just as quickly as the sun appeared, it disappeared TG and the temperature drops back to 22ºC again. It seems like no time at all til we hear the helicopters chuddering again and Christophe Riblon and Tejay Van Garderen are still in the lead. Froome looks stuffed and he's calling for help from the team cars when he's handed a sugar boost by a team mate.
After 20 minutes of peloton and stragglers, we walk slowly down to the bottom, and see Cadel in one of the last groups. At least he'll finish today. We work out we have 10 minute til they finish at the top - just enough time to run to Jani's house to see it on TV. We're there just in time with 4k to go. Van Garderen from BMC is in the lead but really struggling and he's soon pounced on by Christophe Riblon who sprints away uphill to the finish - average speed of 35kph - I must find some better vitamins to take to improve on my 6.5kph.
It's 6pm when we arrive back at the Gite to celebrate with our bottle of pink Granache we've left stashed in the fridge for our return - it's so nice to have with our haul of freebies from today - sausage, chips and twisties. The trains and planes to get here were worth every bit of effort. Alp d'Huez is sometihng special
People are trickling in from their spot on the Alp d'Huez.
Waiting for 2nd climb Alp d'Huez
Pranksters filling in time
Helicopters waiting for 2nd climb
Christophe Riblon still in lead with Van Garderen from BMC
Froome is stuffed and sits behind 2 Movistar cyclists
Stragglers at bottom of Alp d'Huez
Running downhill for end with Jani
Hot and hard but hapy
Hot and hard but hapy