Spectating the Tour de France
We were in Strasbourg for the first weekend for the Prologue and Stage 1.
Then, we were in the Alps for Stages 13 - 18
Here are a few of the non-biking pictures we took around the Strasbourg area.
After the Prologue, we had a good time in Strasbourg just walking around and watching all the sights.
The route for Stage 1 was in a kind of hourglass shape with the start and finish in Strasbourg. We were able to see the riders from 3 different locations.
Stage 13 was run from Beziers to Montélimar
We drove to Montélimar and arrived in time to see the caravan. This is the day that Floyd Landis and Phonak allowed their former teammate Oscar Periero to gain a 29 minute lead and take the yellow jersey.
Stage 14 ran from Montélimar, which is in Provence, to the Hautes-Alpes town of Gap.
We camped on the side of the stage 14 route. The location was on a hill at the base of the Col de Peyruergue. After the peleton passed, we raced to Gap in order to watch the finish.
For the off day between stages 14 and 15, we stayed on the Col du Lauteret.
This was the day of our big ride. We rode from Col du Lauteret to Le Bourg-d'Oisans, which is at the base of Alpe d'Huez, and back again.
The ride as about 48 miles total. I was simply amazed at the length of the climbs. It was my first time riding in mountains like this, and I found it hard to fathom a road which climbs up a valley for 20 – 30 miles at 4-8% with barely a break in between. It took us 3 hours to climb the Col du Lauteret. This was three long hours which started at 2400ft altitude under a blazing sun and air temperatures above 90. The climb has a dip or two in the middle, but only for a short distance. Then, after pressing the pedals for hours, we topped out at 6800 ft. in the ~70 degree cool thin air and a cold rain falling. It was AWESOME.
For Stage 16, we were on the Col du Galibier fairly close to the top. Just to put this climb into perspective, it is 2,646m high, 42.8km long with an average gradient of 4.5%
This is the day that Floyd blew-up on the last climb.
After being way up high in the mountains on the Col du Galibier the night before, it was a welcome change to stay on the Col de Joux-Plane. This is the last of 5 climbs over 200.5 kilometers on a very, very hot day.
After Floyd's amazing comeback on Stage 17, we decided to add another day to the trip. IT was another beautiful day with all kinds of sights and sounds.
