13/07/2018

Off to a flying start

Setting off under blue skies from the city centre, the riders took on the first four kilometres of the main ascent of Alpe d’Huez to La Garde before taking a right turn to the Balcons d’Auris. Riding along the side of the mountain, riders enjoyed breathtaking views over the Romanche Valley below before riding down to Le Freney d’Oisans.

After a non-timed section of 4 kilometres, the peloton started to climb again, taking the Route des Travers, a narrow and winding road, to reach the main road leading to Les 2 Alpes at 5 hairpin turns from the summit.

Atop the first summit of the day, Abraham Austria from Mexico was very pleased by the beginning of the stage. “Everything is going well, very well”, he said filling his water bottles. “I kind of reached my limit in terms of the watts per hour I could do, but I managed to keep a steady pace so I’m happy. I appreciated a lot that some difficult sections were untimed because I was less nervous in the difficult descents. And I love the scenery. There were many locations along the way where I wondered ‘Should I stop to take a picture or keep going?’.”

Samuel Kinsman, from the USA but who has been living in France for a year, was also delighted at the top of Les 2 Alpes: “Earlier the balcony was amazing! I was riding up and in the meantime, I took some photos for my family who couldn’t come from the USA. I found the ascent of Les 2 Alpes not too tough with many sections in the shade. I looked at the profile and tomorrow’s stage looks harder so I’ll save energy today.”

After the untimed descent off Les 2 Alpes, many riders stopped at the Chambon dam to take a picture and immortalise the moment with the blue waters of the Chambon lake in the background.

Climbing again on their bike, riders took on the Col de Sarenne with a first kilometre at more than 11% of average until Mizoën. Then, they follow a meandering road to Clavans le Bas where they had a little respite with a flat section before the second part of the ascent, 7.2 kilometres at 8.7%. Looking up from their handlebars, riders could enjoy an amazing panorama on the Muzelle glacier for the last five kilometres of the ascent.

At 1,999 metres above sea level, the participants took the time to refuel before riding down to Alpe d’Huez and looped around the ski resort to reach the last four hairpins of the main ascent to Alpe d’Huez and cross the finish line.

After crossing the finish line, Michael Dickerson, living in Morocco, shared his thoughts with us: “It is a one-time experience to come to ride on this road where amazing races and stories are taking place. Going up from the dam after the 2 Alpes was really pretty with the trees and little road. Also, going to the top with the big open flat section was pretty cool too. I am really tired, and I am happy that the massage is here. I am also going to eat some good food and get prepared for tomorrow. It was a great ride!”

Jonas Ellingsen from Norway was the fastest rider over the finish line in front of the Palais des Sports of Alpe d’Huez with 2min12sec ahead of French rider Julien Sauvigne and 6min38sec ahead of Kevin Boscardin from Switzerland. In the women’s category, Brooke Mead from the USA won the stage. The fastest Duo team in the Men’s category was Lux Cycle Club and Team Apricot in the Mixed category.

Tomorrow, the 250 participants will take on a marathon stage of 151 kilometres and 4,600 metres of positive gain with the ascents of Croix de Fer, Glandon and Alpe d’Huez from Villard-Reculas.