The 2001 Tour

Background info

I originally wrote these for the rec.bicycles.racing newsgroup. They were pretty well received so once we got our pictures developed I decided to annotate them and put them on the web.

I had gone to France with my wife and our daughter who was six at the time. My only regret was that I never did this earlier. We stayed in Pourchery, which is a hamlet on the road to the ski resort of Vaujany. I stole some profile maps from Jos Jans' excellent website and scanned a section of the Michelin map to provide some detail. The pictures were taken by my wife who watched the race from the base of the side road to Vaujany.

The haul to Huez village via Villard Reculas wasn't a killer, not compared to some of the other climbs in the area

If, in later years, I am asked what the greatest thrill in my life has been, I will hesitate between two replies. It would either be arriving on the Champs Elysèes after a hard Tour, or riding through the thousands of screaming voices to the ski station of L'Alpe d'Huez... I enjoyed the twenty one hairpins of the mountain. I was able to settle into a rhythm and ride up at my own pace, and it was almost a pleasure to suffer in this way. - Paul Kimmage

As I get out of the car, an English correspondent turns to me: "This race sure beats anything I've ever heard of. Except for sailing single-handed around the world, I can't imagine anything so demanding." I myself am in tears, as I have been most of the way up; It's the race and the altitude and the bravery hitting me all at once. - Robin Magowan, Alpe d'Huez 1978.

Stage 10 - Alpe d'Huez

I drove up two days before the stage with my family. It's a miserable day, raining, cold. In spite of this there is heavy bicycle traffic headed up the mountain. My wife says 'This is sort of a pilgrimage or something, isn't it?' We've discovered my kid gets car sick from the switchbacks, we don't make it to the top. The crowd barriers are up already at the fork to the east and west entrance roads, that's where we turn around.

It looks like almost all the good camping spots are gone already. I notice a few empty spots near the bottom; most every other flat roadside space is occupied.

My wife was not willing to put up with the craziness so we didn't stay in Alpe d'Huez itself. Good thing, my kid would have made a mess of the rental if we had. We are staying at a place overlooking the lake at Allemont and the day before the stage I rode over to Alpe d'Huez via Villard Reculas.The place is thick with Germans. Next are the Dutch. The Orange Switchback is beginning to take shape, more on that later. Judging by car license plates, snatches of conversation that I don't understand, and road graffiti there appears to be a significant Danish presence. There are fewer Belgians and Italians, and almost no non-Basque Spaniards. English is pretty common but there are Germans everywhere. It's not raining anymore but it's still cool and I wish I hadn't forgotten my tights.

There is a concentration of Germans at one of the higher switchbacks; they have 'JAN' spelled out in large letters on a hillside using empty beer cans.

Lots of people are attempting road graffiti which seems kind of pointless given the traffic levels, which are heavy. Much of it gets smudged into oblivion.

If you want to do road graffiti, here are some tips.

The paint has to be quick drying because of the traffic.
Get there several days ahead of time if you can, while the traffic is lighter. If you can't swing that, wait until the road is closed. There will still be a lot of traffic from team and press vehicles, but it will be lighter.
Rollers work better than spray cans. Take the time to make a stencil, you'll get it down faster and it'll look better.

It looks like the last camping spots have gone to people willing to move barriers to claim a spot behind them.

On my way back I can hear LOUD music coming from the Orange Switchback.

The public campground in Allemont looks to be at capacity.

THE DAY OF THE RACE

I ride over again via Villard Reculas. The road from Villard Reculas to Huez village is a single lane goat path. It's a 3k walk from the point where the road is closed to the race route and a lot of people are using this as their access to the race. It's a very scenic road, the reason it's single lane is because it crosses a pretty shear rock face and in spite of this there are people camping in spots where you could throw a rock and have it land in Bourg d'Oisans.

There is a group of people with Chris Charmichael and CTS just below the junction with the main road. They have a dish and are pulling in English language Eurosport. There are TVs all over the mountain but they're all getting France 2 over the air. Since my French sucks that means this is the only place I can follow the race without bugging some stranger for a translation. I'm finding I can pick up Sean Kelly's accent without much problem, this is not true for others.

OLN shows up for a quick interview with CC. They shoot the exact same conversation 4 times.

Kristin Armstrong shows up in an official Tour vehicle. Remember, even though the road is closed there is still a ton of traffic. I'm not exactly on a first name basis with her and the race is not going to be here for a while so I hop on the bike and go look around. Our Dutch hosts have told us to check out #7 so down the mountain I go.

Switchback #7 is the Orange Switchback. It is taken over by the Dutch and they know how to party, let me tell you. Everything is orange, the road, clothing, hair. Everything except the beer of which there is enough for all of Holland. You think I'm joking, I am not. There is LOUD music. Trying to get through is a challenge because the road is clogged with people dancing and drinking and people shaking their heads at all the dancing and drinking.This really needs to be seen to be believed. Switchback #7 belongs to the Dutch, they are there every year.

I ride a couple more switchbacks down and then turn around. It's not that easy to get anyplace because the road is so full. There are a lot of people headed up the mountain on MtBs at about a walking pace. I'm mystified by this, I think a lot of people respond to the uphill with the extra low gears of an MtB. I think riding big hills on pavement with an MtB takes rocks for brains. But there are a lot of people doing it.

But mainly I stop and turn around because I need to take a whiz. This is actually kind of funny because there are about a billion people here and laughably small number of port-o-pots, especially given the amount of beer being consumed. If you're shy about that sort of thing then this is not the place for you. If public urination is a problem for you and you need to find one, a woman is much more likely to know where they are. I and the other billion guys didn't know or care. And whatever you do, don’t go above the treeline.

After heading uphill for a couple of K (Germans everywhere) I drop back down to the CTS enclave to find out from Duffield and Sean exactly where things stand. About this time the publicity caravan comes through. Much of the swag is edible which is a good thing because most of the non-edible stuff is dumpster ready junk. Even so, my family and I came out OK; my wife and kid were waiting for the race along the D526 north of Allemont so we got two cracks at everything. I score:

A keychain. The publicity caravan had keychains for all of France. If you can't at least score a keychain you're in tough shape.
An Astra satellite model. Dumpster ready.
A 5 min Bonjour phone card. Dumpster.
Grand Mere coffee.
Champion was throwing out those little rider models, the one with the polka dot jersey. I score one of those.
Gummi treats, along with candy from Haribo.

I just miss getting a mussette bag. Back in Allemont, my kid has two keychains and a La Redoute CD case. A pretty good haul. The keychains are especially nice because there are a lot of them. You can give them to your friends and they will be forever grateful for authentic Tour swag.

There is a vehicle handing out water to an extremely grabby mob and about one in five gets a squirt in the face rather than a bottle. Some people know about this or are pissed at getting squirted at a previous stage so they fire back. The caravan is stopped by an obstruction up the road which gives the recently squirted an opportunity for retribution. It's pretty funny and the people in the vehicle look relieved when it starts up again.

My kid drew this picture of perennial caravan participant Bib, the Michelin man.

OH YEAH, THE RACE

Roux on the way to Allemont

Pretty soon we can see the helicopters, it won't be long now. The gap to Roux is dropping like a stone and the speculation around the TV is whether he'll be caught before or after he passes us. Cell phones pop out of people's ears like dandelions in spring. I don't catch any of the conversations but I expect they were notifications to watch and see if the caller shows upon TV. Armstrong drops Ullrich and catches Roux about a switchback before he gets to us. Later that night I see that the TV feed went to the chasers just before Lance passes us. Still anonymous.

The Lance tifosi have been apoplectic ever since he dropped Ullrich and the screaming reaches a fever pitch as he blasts by. He's gone in a wink and I'm surprised to find that I'm the only one in the group that has started a watch. 1:45 goes by before Ullrich comes through pulling the remnants of the lead group. From there people come through in dribs and drabs. Roux looks like you might expect someone to look after leading much of the day. People sort of shift between watching the TV and cheering the stragglers. Lance wins, this particular group is feeling fat and happy.

It's very interesting watching the rest of the riders pass by because you never get to see that on the TV. Some don't look too bad, some look really blown. Kevin Livingston comes through, he did a ton of work early in the race and he doesn't look like he's having any fun at all at this point. The bus comes through at the end with Zabel leading. There are guys near the back that I don't envy at all.

Halgand's last few kilometers in polka dots

Then 'Fin de Course' comes through and everyone heads for the exits. If you drove there you may as well crack open another beer and cool your heels because the road has a billion people walking or in cars or on bikes so you're not going anywhere anytime soon.

Final tip: If you want a copy of L'Equipe the next day, get to the tobacco shop early because there are Tour junkies all over the place and they'll sell out quick.

The Luitel is not one of those mountains like the Puy-de-Dòme that loom suddenly out of nowhere. Rather, its style is more sylvan, the sort of alpine paradise where you might want to put up a vacation cabin. But, as with any mountain, there lurks under the seeming bucolic a whole other Sturm und Drang, where golden dreams can turn into nightmares with all of a mountain storm's sudden rage... At the top, a tiny, gray-paved, single-car-wide track plunges down to the Romanche valley. It is the longest and most vertiginous drop in the whole race, and extremely dangerous with cars and riders rubbing elbows at 50 mph. - Magowan

Stage 11 - Grenoble-ChamrousseTT

It's all downhill to Sèchilienne, but you pay for it later. That's where you pick up the Col Luitel. This particular Col was included in the 1978 Tour, something I find hard to believe as I travel up it. The road is narrow, the pavement is rough, the pitch is steep. I picture the many support vehicles trying to negotiate what is really a paved goat path. It's a hard climb, 10%+ the whole way, but fortunately it's not that long. Today it's major attraction is that it intersects the road to Chamrousse. This is important because you have to navigate TT stages entirely on foot as there are riders coming constantly. If not for the Col Luitel I would have to ride to almost the start and have no chance of seeing the climbs unless I wanted to walk the 32K of the course which I sure don't. As it is I do the big grunt up the Col and start walking maybe 7-8 K from the finish.

It rained in the morning and I didn't really feel like getting up early to catch the publicity caravan and watch the competitors for the Lanterne Rouge, although there are plenty that do judging by the amount of caravan souvenirs that I see. The atmosphere is different here. It seems like the French are not so outnumbered like they were on Alpe d'Huez. The Dutch are either here in lesser numbers or are dispersed over the course. No one is drinking heavily.

The German presence is still strong however. No doubt about that.

Walking uphill towards the finish I run across the CTS people again. This is a good thing, Eurosport in English rather than French is a good thing. Every so often I hear snatches of Tour radio from a motorcycle and my French is progressing to the point where I can sometimes make out the time splits but as awful as Duffield is he still makes more sense to me than the French, as does Sean Kelly. My French is not that great.

I keep walking up to the 5K banner. I like the TT format because it gives each rider some time in the spotlight as they traverse the course. Not very many of them look to be suffering, I arrive as guys in GC position 50-65 are going through and many of them are concerned only with making the time cut. But the fans make noise for each as they go by. Many have the GC listing from today's newspaper and are noting riders as they go by so they know who is coming up the road.

It's almost as interesting to watch the fan reactions as it is to watch the riders. The area around the 5K banner belongs to the Germans. One of them is wearing a Green Bay Packers jersey, #4 Bret Favre. Kevin Livingston goes through to chants of KEV-in, KEV-in. They are loud for Teutenberg as he passes. I head back downhill when Udo Bölts comes into view. As he rounds the switchback the place explodes. Udo is a popular guy among the Germans. Someone has a bullhorn, and he is a BIG FAN OF UDO BÖLTS.

Ludo Dierckxsens makes his way up the climb to a wave of noise. His popularity crosses national boundaries. Heras rides by, he doesn't look to be making a huge effort. I'm told he is treating this as a rest day, work to do in the Pyrenees. I think of our Dutch hosts and give a loud HUP! HUP! HUP! as Michael Boogerd comes through. The record for the most follow vehicles goes to... Jalabert! He's got his own caravan of press cars.

But the real show is still to come. Moreau generates a big response from the French, but everyone knows Ullrich and Armstrong are coming. The Lance tifosi cheer loudly for Ullrich as he heads for the finish, there are lots of people that start watches this time. About a minute later Lance goes by and there is much rejoicing.

[Wait]

The next rider should be O'Grady.

[Wait]

There is a German film crew here. They start to pack up as soon as Armstrong disappears up the road.

[Wait]

The film crew has finished packing up. They are gone. People are clustered around the TV. Every so often someone looks down the road. It's empty.

[Wait]

One of the women in the enclave was running up the mountain yesterday with an American flag draped over her shoulders. She gets a lot of static as she passed a large group of Germans. So she runs up to one of them and gives him a big hug and a kiss. As she resumes her trip up the mountain the German gives a loud GO LANCE ARMSTRONG after her. It's a funny story. Still no sign of O'Grady.

[Wait]

Finally O'Grady shows up. Except its not O'Grady, its Kivilev who started two minutes later. Behind Kivilev, yeah there he is. There's O'Grady. In spite of his lofty GC position it's clear that he knows exactly where the time cut is.

Simon is last, battling for as many days in yellow as he can manage. People make a lot of noise for him. Even though everyone knows he won't finish with the jersey, he has it now and that's worth a shout.

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