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Tour de France 2018 heads for Alpe d'Huez

The world's greatest bike race returns July 19th

featured in News & reviews Author Brian Kieran, Alpe d'Huez Editor Updated

The Tour de France and Alpe d’Huez go together hand in hand and that relationship is rekindled again this year when the race returns to resort on Thursday 19th July. Ever since local businessman and owner of the Hotel Christina, Georges Rajon, brought the race to resort in 1952, Alpe d’Huez has become the most famous of all the gruelling climbs tackled in this iconic race.

This year the Alps come before the Pyrenees as the Tour takes a clockwise route around France and unlike some previous editions the whole of this years’ race take place in mainland France, except for a brief 15km excursion into Spain in stage 16. The “grand depart” takes place in the Loire region before the rider’s head north to sample some of the cobbled sections made famous in the “Hell of the North” that is Paris-Roubaix. As always huge crowds will descend on Alpe d’Huez in the lead up to race day. Here are our top tips to watching the race:

Get here early
The main road up to resort the D211 (the hill) will close at around 6pm on the Wednesday 18th and wont re-open until after the race on the 19th. The best camper van spots will be taken well before this though, generally spaces near the top start to fill up around a week in advance of the race coming through. Bend 16 offers a great vantage point as the road is a bit flatter and straighter as the race approaches affording you a longer viewing period, but spots here will go well before the 19th.

Park facing downhill
The general protocol is to park facing downhill, whether you are in a car or a camper van. The Gendarmerie (Police) are hot on this. You will see on the way up the hill where it starts to get busy, so keep your eyes peeled for a good spot, then turn around and head back down to your spot.

Tour de France 2018 heads for Alpe d'Huez

Shop before you get to resort
The shelves will literally be bare a few days before the race comes to resort, so best do your shopping before you get here. The large Casino supermarket in Bourg d’Oisans will be super busy in the lead up to the 19th, and this is the last of the big supermarkets before resort. There are several huge supermarkets in Grenoble, many of which are situated right next to the main road to the Alps, the A480. Although resort has several smaller supermarkets their resources will be well and truly tested in the days leading up to the 19th.

The action is at Dutch Corner
The most famous of all the bends is bend 7 (bend 21 is at the bottom and bend 1 is in resort), this is known as “Dutch Corner”. The 24 hour a day party will start around 5 days before the 19th and the action is non-stop. It all started back in 1952 when the church located on the bend was the home of a Dutch priest, and so the legend began. Such is the organisation of this pilgrimage that they have portable toilets and bars set up ready for the sea of orange that descends from the Netherlands.

Even the Welsh and Irish are getting in on the act
Over the past few visits of the race to resort other nationalities have been setting up their own corners to try and rival the Dutch. Bends lower down the hill around 13 and 11, have now become Welsh and Irish corners and will again be adorned with national flags and the like.

Tour de France 2018 heads for Alpe d'Huez

The barriers start at 5km to go
To get a really up and close view then stay below the 5km to go banner, as the safety barriers will be installed from around 5km up to the finish. The 5km to go point is in the original village of Huez.

Big screen at the finish line
There will be a large screen at the finish line area, so this spot not only provides you with a good view of the stage conclusion but also you can watch the action unfold throughout the day.

Public toilets along the route
There are public toilets and “potable” (drinking water) points in Huez village (around 5km from the finish line), in between bends four and three (around 4km from the finish line) as you approach the resort – by the Hollywood style sign and also up at the finish line area.

Tour de France 2018 heads for Alpe d'Huez

Bars along the route
On the lower slopes of the climb the bar at bend 16 (Virage 16) will provide the chance to grab a drink and watch the race come up the lower bends. After bend 16 the next bar en-route is the L’Indiana Bar down in the Old Town area of resort, around 1.5km from the finish line. This Brit-run pub will be super busy and will have the race in its entirety on its large screens, and the atmosphere will be great.

Après-race fun
The ever-popular Smithy's Tavern will be open for the month of July and will be a popular haunt for some late night fun and entertainment, and its Tex-Mex themed restaurant will be open from 6pm. While in the main street the always open, Freeride and Old School Bars will be busy and open late as well.

Tour de France 2018 heads for Alpe d'Huez

Go to the race start the next day
Stage 12 will start on Friday 20th down at the bottom of the hill in Bourg d’Oisans with a stage start time of 13.35. A stage start is a great opportunity to see the riders up close and to see their pre-race preparations. Make sure you get there early as parking will be at a premium and the traffic going down the hill will truly be bumper to bumper.

Tour de France 2018 heads for Alpe d'Huez

Other things to do in resort
The 9-hole golf course over by the altiport is always a great way to spend an hour or two, with a 9-hole green fee costing €9 and next door to the golf course is the tennis club and court hire prices are around €5 per hour. The leisure centre in the middle of town offers squash, gym, climbing wall, indoor swimming, table tennis and crazy golf. The outdoor swimming pool on the main street provides a lovely outdoor pool option. Just remember if you choose to use the pool that men can’t wear “boardie” style swimmer shorts in either of the pools – you must wear Daniel Craig 007 style trunks.

Tour de France 2018 heads for Alpe d'Huez

Who is likely to be in yellow come the big day
The first big GC shake up is likely on stage 6 with a finish atop the Mur de Bretagne (the wall of Brittany) and more fireworks are likely on stage 9 into Roubaix, when 21km and 15 sectors of pave could provide some significant gaps in the GC. So come stage 12 up to Alpe d’Huez its likely to be a strong classics style “puncheur” rider, like Alejandro Valverde of the super-strong Spanish team Movistar in the famous yellow jersey or Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe of the “wolf-pack” that is Quick-Step Floors.

Who is likely to win the big stage
The stage to Alpe d’Huez is likely to be a battle between the main GC contenders as the stage comes too early in the race to see a breakaway win. Froome, Quintana, Porte, Aru, Nibali and Thomas will all no doubt be present come the shake up – but don’t be surprised to see Romain Bardet of locally based AG2R La Mondiale have a crack for glory in what is pretty much a home stage for the team, or for an outsider maybe young Columbian “mountain goat” Egan Bernal of Team Sky is a good bet.