Text: Stephan Klemm
The stage for the Alps’ largest open-air theatre is formed by 21 bends in the Rue Départementale 211, carved into the mountainside. This arena in south-eastern France comes to life whenever the Tour de France peloton passes through and its riders perform a new chapter in the history of modern cycling. On such a day, hundreds of thousands of people – euphoric, boisterous and completely carried away – take to the road that leads up to the heavens, magnetically drawn by the anthem-like sound of the place name Alpe d’Huez.
The little town sits at an altitude of 1,800 metres, and the route there – a 14-kilometre climb – has gradients of up to 14 per cent, averaging just under eight per cent. The route features longer uphill sections and steeper gradients, but Alpe d’Huez in particular has become one of the most famous stages of the Tour de France. This is mainly due to the unique geography of these 21 ascending ‘steps’, which nestle against the hillside in a fascinating and photogenic manner. They are marked by small signs with blue lettering on a white background, counting down from 21 to 1 as you climb. The names of the stage winners are immortalised on plaques in the bends; some feature two of them.
Alpe d’Huez has also become famous for the great stars who have won here, starting with Fausto Coppi at the Alpe’s debut in 1952. It was also the first mountain finish in the history of the Tour de France. Added to this are the unique scenarios in the general classification, as the D 211 has, for the most part, been tackled during the final week of the Tour in each of its 31 appearances on Alpe d’Huez to date, up to 2022.
Double stage to Alpe d’Huez
This summer, after a four-year hiatus, the Tour returns to the Grand-Rousses massif – twice, in fact, on the third and penultimate days of the race. The concrete-block winter sports resort of Alpe d’Huez, made famous by the summer spectacle that is the Tour de France, will welcome the professional cyclists at the end of the 19th and 20th stages on 24 and 25 July. First, the route heads north from Gap into the Romanche valley and, from Le Bourg-d’Oisans, takes the conventional left turn onto the D 211 and up through the famous 21 hairpin bends. A day later, the 20th stage finishes at the same location, but the route there includes a section that is new to the programme.
The stage begins in Le Bourg-d’Oisans and heads out of the village in a different direction towards the Croix de Fer; from there, it continues over the Télégraphe, the Galibier and – this is new – along the narrow mountain track of the Col de Sarenne. Four kilometres before Alpe d’Huez, the professionals finally turn onto the D 211 above the village of Huez-en-Oisans. Six of the 21 bends remain there for the final stretch of the day’s stage. This stage demands a great deal from the riders once again; they must tackle 5,450 metres of elevation gain over a distance of 171 kilometres. On the penultimate day of the Tour de France.
Tour Director Christian Prudhomme was keen to include this new route in the course; he rates the Col de Sarenne highly, as it offers an alternative route for those who do not wish to leave or climb Alpe d’Huez via the D 211. In 2013, this route was already part of a stage that first led up to Alpe d’Huez and then down into the valley via the Col de Sarenne. The route then turned right twice – and back onto the D 211 once more. A double dose of Alpe d’Huez madness in a single day, which the Tour organisers had devised for the 18th stage to mark the race’s 100th anniversary. Alpe d’Huez had indeed featured twice in succession over two days back in 1979, but on those occasions the route to the finish line took riders through all 21 bends.
A rugged mountain route through breathtaking scenery
Prudhomme is an enthusiastic Tour director, and when he talks about the detour up the Col de Sarenne, his arms emphasise his impassioned musings, his voice rises and his eyes grow wider. “I was absolutely determined that this time we should climb the Col de Sarenne rather than descend it. It’s a wild mountain route through fascinating countryside – fabulous, magnificent, spectacular,” said Prudhomme in an interview with TOUR.
The climb up the Sarenne is 13 kilometres long, eight of which pass through a protected area where spectators are not permitted. “We’ll therefore experience a stark contrast on these two days at Alpe d’Huez. On the one hand, the madness and frenzy of the crowds on the 21 bends. And the next day, tranquillity on the Col de Sarenne. I love this contrast,” says Prudhomme. The new Sarenne route is likely to open up many possibilities for the Tour’s route planners in the future and further boost the profile of Alpe d’Huez.
The Dutch Mountain
That said, this little town is already world-famous and therefore a popular destination for visitors. As well as French people and many fans from England, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Slovenia and neighbouring Italy, Alpe d’Huez attracts Dutch fans in particular. This is due to sporting history. Between 1976 and 1989, riders from Europe’s flattest country won eight times on this mountain during 13 Tour visits to the ski resort – a record for any nation.
This string of victories by the Dutch riders Joop Zoetemelk, Hennie Kuiper and Peter Winnen (two wins each) as well as Steven Rooks and Gert-Jan Theunisse, seems to act as a kind of obligation for their compatriots to visit the Isère department, a visit that is usually accompanied by a spectacular display from them on the ascending tarmac of the D 211 during the race and in the days leading up to it. Two years ago, at the Alpe d’Huez debut of the Women’s Tour, it was fittingly another Dutch rider, Demi Vollering, who took the win.
The majority of the Dutch fan legions have chosen Turn 7 and the village of Huez-en-Oisans as their stronghold, a good five kilometres from the finish line on the Avenue de Rif-Nel. Even on the eve of an Alpe d’Huez stage, visitors from the north transform the small hamlet into an open-air disco where plenty of beer is consumed. The streets are painted orange, and the walls are decked out with orange flags. Most of these visitors wear the jersey of the Dutch national football team, which is, of course, also orange. But that is merely a loud, garish and shrill prologue.
Things really get wild the moment the first riders round the Dutch bend. The crowds leave the professionals just a tiny gap to get through. The cheering, the costumes, the atmosphere, and the bouncing, ecstatic, unstoppable supporters accompanying the professionals all build up in those moments into a frenzy that’s almost beyond comprehension.
2011, 2013 and 2015, on the other hand, were triumphant years for France. On those occasions, three Frenchmen – Pierre Roland, Christophe Riblon and Thibaut Pinot – won in succession. During those three summers, the French jubilation even drowned out the noise of the celebrating Dutch.
An idea and its consequences
The idea of bringing the Tour de France to Alpe d’Huez came from the artist and cycling enthusiast Jean Barbaglia from Le Bourg-d’Oisans. In 1951, he shared his vision with the Alpe hoteliers Georges Rajon and André Quintin, and his two friends were immediately enthusiastic about it. They were keen on the idea of a summer attraction for their winter sports community. Shortly afterwards, Rajon got in touch with the Tour organisers, who subsequently sent an envoy to visit the area.
He was thrilled by the superb condition of the D 211 and its spectacular bends. The Tour director at the time, Jacques Goddet, subsequently decided that Alpe d’Huez should be included in the route as early as 1952.
It was also Rajon who came up with the idea of numbering the 21 bends. On a trip to Slovenia, he discovered that the 53 hairpin bends on the Vrsic Pass were numbered. ‘What a brilliant idea,’ thought Rajon; he adopted this concept and had the D 211 fitted with 21 signs along the hairpin bends.In 1986, Bernard Hinault became the first Frenchman to win at Alpe d’Huez, and his stage victory forms part of a great narrative in the history of the Tour.
The drama involving Hinault and LeMond
In 1985, the Breton had won the Tour for the fifth time largely because Greg LeMond, his team-mate at La Vie Claire, had helped him to do so. Hinault subsequently promised the American that he would guide him to victory in Paris the following year. But in 1986, during the 73rd Tour, Hinault played his own game. He took the Yellow Jersey, constantly provoked LeMond and only handed over the overall lead to him at the end of the 17th stage on the Col de Granon in the Alps.
Hinault dropped back to third place there; he was now 2 minutes and 47 seconds behind his team-mate. The 18th stage, meanwhile, finished at Alpe d’Huez, and the tension was palpable: would the unpredictable Hinault now risk one final attack? But on the D 211, the estranged team leaders seemed to have come to their senses. Together, they left all their rivals behind, joined hands on the home straight, and rode together towards the finish line, which Hinault was the first to cross. LeMond consolidated his lead, whilst Hinault moved up to second place in the general classification.
The French sports daily *L’Équipe* summed up the much-admired finale with the legendary headline: “An eagle with two heads”. After all manner of further verbal sparring, LeMond reached the French capital as Tour winner, with Hinault finishing in second place. The Frenchman emphasised, in his typically gruff manner, that he had deliberately challenged LeMond so that his opponent could prove himself a “worthy champion”.
It is the sum of all these stories that gives Alpe d’Huez a mythical status, much like Wimbledon or the Maracanã in the world of cycling, and makes it a place of longing for professionals and fans alike. For the riders, a victory on the Alpe is the crowning achievement of their career.
Madness at the limit
On one occasion, however – on 21 July 2004 – the gathering of spectators and riders almost went wrong. On that hot summer’s day, a 15.5-kilometre mountain time trial had been organised from Le Bourg-d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez. At least 750,000 people were scattered across the mountain at the time, says Prudhomme, “probably even more. In any case, far too many”. As the first riders struggled up the slope, the euphoria of the completely unrestrained crowd was almost impossible to contain. Every professional rider had to ride through a wall of people; they were touched, pushed and splashed with liquids. Given the alarming images, it was a stroke of luck that no crashes occurred.
An hour after the stage had finished, the then Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc sat, looking pale, on a chair in front of the entrance to the Alpe d’Huez press centre and said self-critically: “That was the absolute limit. It was too much madness. The danger for the riders was too great.” After 2004, there were no more individual time trials up to the ski resort.
Why should it? After all, the iconic Tour de France spectacle that is Alpe d’Huez, with its unique atmosphere, works absolutely brilliantly even in a conventional setting.
Stories from Alpe d’Huez
Personal best
The record for completing the 21 hairpin bends up to Alpe d’Huez is still held by the Italian Marco Pantani, a figure from cycling’s EPO era. In 1997, he covered the 14 kilometres from Le Bourg-d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez in a seemingly surreal time of 37:35 minutes and won the stage ahead of Jan Ullrich, who went on to win the Tour de France that year.
In the Alpe rankings, Pantani also occupies second place (1994, 38:00 minutes) and third place (1995, 38:05 minutes). In this ranking, from which Lance Armstrong’s name has been removed, Jan Ullrich is in fourth place (38:28 minutes). Tadej Pogačar’s best time to date is 39:08 minutes (2022).
The photographer
Just before the finish line, on bend sign 1, Giuseppe Guerini is immortalised. The Italian won on the Alpe in the summer of 1999. At the time, the antics of an eccentric photographer made the headlines. Guerini had already reached the village and was riding towards the finish line alone. But then, suddenly, a man stood in his path, right in the middle of the road, trying to take an exclusive photo; a collision was inevitable. Guerini crashed and was in danger of losing his lead, but managed to cross the finish line as the winner.
Failed
In the summer of 1978, the Belgian Michel Pollentier won the 16th stage of the Tour, which finished at Alpe d’Huez, and took the Yellow Jersey there. However, a doping inspector took a very close look at Pollentier’s urine sample and discovered that he was concealing a conspicuous contraption under his jersey. Under his armpit was a rubber bladder containing cold, uncontaminated and unsuspicious urine from another source. A tube ran across his abdomen to the genital area and from there into the test vial. Pollentier was withdrawn from the race. He lost both the stage victory and the Maillot Jaune. He was also fined 5,000 Swiss francs and handed a two-month ban.
