Thank you for being a devoted reader of PelotonTales. You are the reason why it’s worth spending so many hours to create new content and trying to improve this website. If you would show appreciation to my work, please consider supporting the blog with a small donation. Thank you! One of the oddest images from the history of Tour de France pictures Lucien Van Impe after the crash with a motobike on Alpe d’Huez on 19th July 1977.
There is a simple reason, why Alpe d’Huez was introduced to the Tour de France only in 1952, while the race visited the Alps since 1911 frequently: there is only one way up to the top, hence the stage must be finished there. But the concept of a hilltop finish wasn’t born yet. Indeed, the 10th stage in 1952, finishing on Alpe d’Huez was the first time in the history of Tour de France, when the riders crossed the finish line on the top of a climb and not in a town in a valley nearby. Thanks to the new experience, both for the riders and the audience, Alpe d’Huez became a big hit instantly.… Read More »Alpe d’Huez, the instant classic
Thank you for being a devoted reader of PelotonTales. You are the reason why it’s worth spending so many hours to create new content and trying to improve this website. If you would show appreciation to my work, please consider supporting the blog with a small donation. Thank you! Alpe d’Huez witnessed plenty of legendary moments since its introduction to the Tour de France in 1952. One of them is the famous 18th stage in 1986, when Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond reached the top hand in hand. The team La Vie Claire had usually a very strong line-up at the Tour de France in the mid-1980s. Bernard Hinault was one of the cycling superstars,… Read More »Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond on the top of Alpe d’Huez (Tour de France 1986)
Although its introduction to the Tour de France in 1952, made Alpe d’Huez an instant classic, the race visited the famous ascent again only 24 years later. Listo of winners on the top of Alpe d’Huez 1952 Fausto Coppi 1976 Joop Zoetemelk 1977 Hennie Kuiper 1978 Hennie Kuiper 1979 Joaquim Agostinho 1979 Joop Zoetemelk 1981 Peter Winnen 1982 Beat Breu 1983 Peter Winnen 1984 Luis Herrera 1986 Bernard Hinault 1987 Federico Echave 1988 Steven Rook 1989 Gert-Jan Theunisse 1990 Gianni Bugno 1991 Gianni Bugno 1992 Andrew Hampsten 1994 Roberto Conti 1995 Marco Pantani 1997 Marco Pantani 1999 Giuseppe Guerini 2001 Lance Armstrong 2003 Iban Mayo 2004 Lance Armstrong 2006 Fränk Schleck 2008 Carlos Sastre 2011… Read More »Alpe d’Huez appearances at the Tour de France
Although smaller climbs were parts of the program since the beginning, and both the Pyrenees (1910) and the Alps (1911) were intruduced to the race during the pre-WW1 period, there were no hilltop finishes at the Tour de France till 1952. Alpe d’Huez ( in the Western Alps) was a ski station in the first half of the 20th century. But a local artist, Jean Barbaglia had the idea, that it would be a great place for a cycling race too. He persuaded one of the hotel owners to lobby the Tour de France organizers: it migh be worth to try something new out. Up to Alpe d’Huez there was only one road, therefore a… Read More »The first hilltop finish of Tour de France
Tour de France winner Jean Robic was born on the 10th of June in 1921 in Vouziers, France. His professional career started in the middle of the 2nd World War in 1943. In 1944 he finished Paris-Roubaix with a fractured skull. After this event, he started wearing a leather helmet which became later something like his trademark. Journalists gave him several nicknames during his almost two-decade-long career, one of them was “Tête de cuir” ( a. k. a “leather-head”) Due to his shortness and skinny body type (160 cm /60 kg) he was underestimated in his early active years, especially before the Tour de France in 1947. He was selected only for a regional team,… Read More »Cycling Who’s Who: Jean Robic
Luis Herrera was born on 4 May 1961 in Fusagasugá, Colombia. He was the first Colombian to win a Tour de France stage. The victory on the top of Alpe d’Huez in 1984 was Herrera’s first notable triumph, he achieved it as an amateur rider. Although amateurs were time to time part of the peloton of the Tour de France, especially in the early years, this was the first time, that this type of rider managed to win a stage. Luis Herrera turned professional in 1985. As his first victory already has indicated, he was an excellent climber and became the second rider (after Federico Bahamontes) to win the King of the Mountains competitions of… Read More »Cycling Who’s Who: Luis Herrera
Although since its introduction to the Tour de France in 1952, Alpe d’Huez witnessed several pivotal moments of the race, especially regarding the fate of the yellow jersey and the overal victory, it happened only in 2018 for the very first time, that a current yellow jersey wearer cyclist won the stage on the top of the famous climb. Gerain Thomas (Team Sky) surprised many people, when he won the 11th stage and jumped to the first position in the general classification in 2018. If you rewatch the stage, you can see clearly, that the GC riders and their teams were focusing rather on Chris Froome. Evidently, everyone thought, that the attack by Thomas was… Read More »Winning at Alpe d’Huez in yellow jersey