The Tour hits l'Alpe d'Huez again this year, for stage 10 on Tuesday the 17th of July - and hopefully there'll be a bunch of messengers there to meet up with! It's a great chance to not only witness one of the spectacular and historic climbs of the Tour, but to actually ride it yourself - all 21 switchbacks! It isn't an easy climb, but you'll finish it with more appreciation for the effort the pros put out when they come blazing up the hill 10 times as fast as you did! If I made it up on a 3-speed with 20 kilos on my rack, you can too. Don't be ashamed to walk - there's hundreds of crazy Dutch people to cheer you on!
The plan is to meet up the day before the l'Alpe d'Huez stage (16 Jun), in the town of Bourg d'Oisans, in the valley at the bottom of the climb, stock up with provisions (though theres plenty to be found at the top of the mountain in l'Alpe d'Huez itself), ride up, and camp the night. The next day, you've got the whole morning to scope out the mountain for good viewing spots, and get ready for the spectacle that is a big Tour mountaintop stage finish. It'll be a grand end to one of the tour's toughest stages this year - the riders will have ridden 2 hors d'categorie climbs (Col de la Madeline and Col du Glandon), and almost 200km before they even get to l'Alpe d'Huez.
For those of you who want more, though, there's the possiblity of riding back down the valley to head for a campsite on the route of stage 11. It's an 32km uphill time trial (one of 4 time trials in this year's Tour) from Grenoble to Montee vers Chamrousse - with an elevation gain of near 1300m over 19km - almost as steep as l'Alpe d'Huez. Time trials are one of the best types of stages to watch - you get to see the riders ride past one by one... and on a climb, they won't just be streaking past at lightning speed.
However, the pre-CMWC event in Vienna is on the 20-23 Jul, which makes for some serious problems getting from l'Alpe d'Huez to Vienna. There is fairly inexpensive rail and air travel available from Geneve to Vienna, though - and the straight shot ride from l'Alpe d'Huez to Geneve is about 150km, which is barely rideable in the time available the afternoon after watching stage 11 in Chamrousse, if one leaves early (stages typically end around 4 in the afternoon) and rides hard.
Last year, there were about 10 people together on the mountain, and there were other messengers we didn't find - it'd be great this year if it were even bigger! If you have any doubt in your mind as to whether you want to go, just ask anyone who met up with us at l'Alpe d'Huez in '99 how much fun they had... Sure, we got rained on, and crammed too many people into too few tents, but I know I wouldn't have traded it for the world.
If you're looking for a good map of the area, Michelin's Rhone-Alpes map (yellow, #264) will do the trick.
I won't be able to make it there personally this year, due to some conflicting ride plans of my own, but ill be keeping plans up here for other people who may want to meet up - Bourg d'Oisans isn't a very big town, and if people plan to meet up on the main road, it'll be easy to find each other. I'd suggest waiting at the first grocery store you'll see upon entering town - on the left-hand side of the road if you're travelling south form Grenoble. In 1999, we planned to meet up at the mayor's house ("la mairie"), but most of us on bikes ended up meeting at the grocery store anyhow.
For those of you who, like me, won't be able to make this section of the tour, there are other options available to you as far as the Tour goes. Since the Tour starts up in the northeast corner of France, if you choose to start your trip in that area of Europe, those stages, as well as the stages in Belgium, are an obvious choice. If you're planning to catch Ivonne and David's planned route from Paris, the stages in northwest France, which include a team time trial from Verdun to Bar-le-Duc, are well suited to your likely route. For those who are going to be in southern Germany around mid-July, the stages near Freiburg (stages 6-8) might well be worth your time. So don't lose hope of seeing the Tour if you can't make it to l'Alpe d'Huez.
Where: Bourg d'Oisans, France - anywhere along the N85 as it enters town until the turnoff to l'Alpe d'Huez. Last year we planned to meet at the mayor's house (la mairie), but ended up mostly meeting outside a grocery store on the left side of the road as you're riding in from Grenoble - this may be the best area to meet, as most everyone will be coming from that direction, and can't miss you on the road there...
What you'll need: You. Your bike (duh!). Your tent (in the Alps, it's not uncommon to have rain at night in the summer...). All your lungpower (for screaming like maniacs at your favorite cyclists while guzzling beer). Good brakes (for the long downhill after the stage ends).
