Day #1 Sunday 19th July 2009
We all arrived in Annecy, a town which is built around Lake Annecy – we stayed at the Novotel. Our ride was a 40km roll around Lake Annecy – we could believe how clear the water was in the lake.
Annecy is around a lake formed by a glacier and is surrounded by huge mountains (the Alpes) and has gorgeous scenery. We went on a cruise around the lake and saw the various villages. We had a visit to Chateau de Menthon which was built in the 14th century and added onto up until the 19th century. It was also the birthplace of St Bernard.
Day #2 Monday 20th July 2009
We rode 110kms from Annecy to Chamonix. We had three large climbs of close to 10kms each and rising up to ~1450m. thanks for compact cranks and a 27 J
The descents were worth the climb and very fun, one nearly 12km long, swithbacks, but made for sore hands braking for every corner on the way down. This ride took us nearly 6 hours of riding time.
Chamonix is a ski resort nestled at the base of Mont Blanc and is surrounded on all sides by the Alpes.
Day #3 Tuesday 21st July 2009
We rode from Chamonix to Martigny to watch the start of today’s race stage. We had two large climbs and then a very long (~14km) descent into the town. The views were awesome for those who were not flying to fast to turn their heads and look J
Martigny is in Switzerland and it was here that we found out we needed to use Swiss Francs rather than Euros when trying to buy our lunch, so we payed in Euros and got Swiss Francs in change. We all purchased our tour merchandise and saw the race start.
Tony Shead & Tony Cahill(TC) rode back to Chamonix up the 14km descent that we’d come down. It was here that Tony decided compact cranks were a must.
The rest of us drove back to Chamonix and caught the cable-car up to the top of Mont Blanc. It was ~28degrees in Chamonix and -3degrees at the top. Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Europe standing at 4810m. It is covered by snow & glaciers. We saw a few people climbing in the snow to the higher peaks. Altitude training does not prepare you for being on top of Mont Blanc …we all felt the effects.
Going up Mont Blanc is one of the must-do things in Chamonix and maybe “one of those things” you must do whilst in Europe.
Day #4 Wednesday 22nd July 2009
Today was the hardest day for the TDF riders – 189km, 3 climbs, Col de Araches – 6.5km - Cat2, Col de Romme – 8.5km - Cat 1 and Col de Columbierre – 7.5km – Cat 1.
We rode from Chamonix and rode 50km of the actual race course – up Col de Araches and Col de Romme. Col de Romme started with the first 2km around 10-12% and after the first 500m we rode into a thunderstorm, lots of thunder, lightning, wet roads, rear wheel slippage out of the saddle, so most stayed seated for duration of the climb. We were cheered on by crowds all the way up the climb. This is where our ride stopped – the goal was to ride Col de Columbierre, but the descent was very wet and dangerous.
We put on some warm clothing and ventured to taste some of the local cuisine (French hot-dogs J) and Grolsch beer. Then the weather changed. The wind picked up and almost blew all the marquees over and it was bitterly cold, raining, etc. 5minutes later the rain stopped, the wind eased and shorts & t-shirt weather. We then drove back to our hotel to watch the last 45kms or so of the race on the big screen in the bar and had a few well-deserved beers.
We had a group dinner at a local French restaurant where we sampled the local wind, food & Genepi (which is a local after dinner drink which is about 40% proof).
Day #5 Thursday 23rd July 2009
40km Individual Time Trial in Annecy. We were up early to pack our bags and go on the bus to Annecy which is about 100kms away from Chamonix. Our VIP tour gets us access to the technical area for the time trial today, the race finish area tomorrow, and the ride up Mont Ventoux on Saturday. I had a chat to The Garmin Director, Matt White, from Australia and he said the tour was not over yet as Mont Ventoux was still to come on Sat 25th July.
Day #6 Friday 24th July 2009
We spent the night in Grenoble and had a gentle 40km ride, but had to go uphill for nearly 10km first. We rode through some very nice villages, narrow roads and beautiful countryside surrounded by mountains.
Today’s stage is from Bourgoin-Jallieu – Aubenas – 178km – two Cat 4 climbs and one Cat 2 climb. We are going to be 100m from the finish today, so hopefully we will have good viewing.
Day #7 Saturday 25th July 2009
To come!!! Photos from Mont Ventoux….