Today...Alpe d'Huez! I've wanted to watch the Tour on this climb for years and today we did it.
Knowing that it was going to be very crowed; there were estimated of over 1million spectators lining the 23 hairpins, we got a very early start; up at 4:30 AM, and in the car at 5:05 AM. Most of the 125 km drive went quickly except for final 12 km which took us up a very step, narrow, & twisty climb to the little village of Villard-Regulas. We had to park here and walk the next 3.5 km to get to the actual Tour route. In Villard-Regulas we bought croissants, a baguette, coffee, and a copy of L'Equipe.
The walk to the village of Huez took about an hour and was steep with both climbs and descents. I'm glad I was walking rather than driving. Huez is ski village so it is jammed with condos, and chalets...and especially people, all waiting for the racers. We took a rest break at an outdoor cafe, more coffee and croissants, and then walked another km up the Tour route before selecting our viewing spot right next to the "5 km to the summit" banner.
It was 10: 15 and the racers were due until 4:15. Pas de problem...the parade of spectators at Alpe d'Huez was a continuous show...many, many people in costumes: super heroes, Elvis, US presidents, etc. About 100 yards north of our viewing spot was a large group of Italian men in their 20's who played musical continually and sang through their own portable microphone. I walked further up the route, past another hairpin, and encountered multiple groups with even louder music systems, barbecues, etc. It was a lot like tailgating at football games times ten. The Dutch clearly get the best partiers award...I've never seen anything like them at any sports event.
The first racer, American Tejay Van Garderen, was in the lead by quite a bit, and actually kept it for both laps. When he passed us the 2nd time with only 5 km to the finish, he held a 38 second lead over Frenchman Christopher Riblon. But sadly with one kilometer to go, Riblon caught Tejay, who ultimately finished second.
The riders were very spread out as they passed in front of us, so we got to great shots of them all. Again, Christopher Froome of Team Sky seemed well in command. When he passed us the second time, he had dropped Alberto and the other challengers, ultimately increasing his overall lead in the general classification.
Before the last racer passed us, the French refer to him as "le lantern rouge", we learned that Riblon won the stage. Riblon, incidentally, stayed at Les Suites du Lac during the past year...they have a autography photo of him at the front desk.
The descent back to Villard-Regulas was slow and tiring. We missed the turn in Huez and walked an extra kilometer before realizing it. By the time we got to our car, there was still a bumper to bumper traffic jam heading down the mountain. But, by the time we unloaded our back packs, used the facilities, and bought dinner (pretzels, nutty buddies, & Perrier), the traffic jam had dispersed, and we headed back to Aix les Bains at 7:30 PM. 
We got to the B&B at 10 PM...by far our longest day Tour watching ever. But it was worth it, we've now experienced Alpe d'Huez.
No comments:
Post a Comment