French Alps Tour 2003

July 13th - Race Day on the Alpe d'Huez!

People had been pouring onto the mountain for several days and there were over 600,000 fans by the time the race arrived. Between midnight and dawn, dozens of large semi's had snaked their way up the road, past the revelers camped on the side, (what must it have been like to have an 18 wheeler 4 feet from your sleeping bag?) to create television studios the winners podium, reviewing stands and even a restaurant. They did this everyday for 22 days, but most places were a bit more manageable than a tiny ski town 4000 feet up a cliff!

We wondered around the village in the morning, admiring the construction of the finish area and the logistics, cheered Eric as he crossed the finish line (he managed 1:00:41 to beat my handicapped time by 9 seconds!), and then started down the hill, as the rear vanguard of the 600,000 were still pouring up the road. We headed to the village of Huez and then took a small side road to the tiny village of Villard-Reculas. There we found an inn with a television and enjoyed another wonderful lunch while watching the tour climb over the Col du Galibier. As they started down to the Col du Lautaret we cycled back towards Huez and waited on the side of the road at an overlook that gave us views of the start of the climb in le Bourg d'Oisans.

We watched them make the turn and go up several switchbacks and then rode quickly into Huez. What luck, we parked our bikes right beside the road and were able to stand up front as the lead riders came charging up the hill. The excitement of the crowd was fantastic, cheering and clapping as the motorcycles came up the hill brushing the crowd back from the road and then immediately behind, the cyclists, going by faster than I would have thought possible.

What an experience! This made the week for me, with such great riding and then to be able to watch the race in such an intimate way. I didnŐt need any more.

After the first 70 or so riders went by, we rode back to the hotel in Villard-Reculas to see if we could watch the finish but were too late. We rode down the hill to the N91 where we had dinner. Everyone had a great day - some were at the finish line and others were at different parts of the hill but everyone agreed it was wonderful.

After dinner we boarded a bus to take us to our last stop, several miles west to Villard de Lans.