Alpe d'Huez
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| Alpe d'Huez | |
|---|---|
 Tour de France arrival line, avenue du Rif Nel. |
|
| Elevation | 1,860 metres (6,102 ft) |
| Location |  France |
| Range | Alps |
| Coordinates | |
Alpe d'Huez is a famous ski resort 1860 metres / 3330 metres (6,102 ft / 10,924 ft) high. Alpe d'Huez is a mountain pasture in the Central French Alps, located on the territory of the commune of Huez, in the Isère département.
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[edit] Tour de France
Alpe d'Huez is the most famous mountain climb in the Tour de France. While the tour route varies from year to year, l'Alpe d'Huez has hosted a stage finish almost every year since 1976. The Tour de France first finished a stage on l'Alpe d'Huez in 1952. That stage was won by the Italian road racing cyclist Fausto Coppi.
The climb up Alpe d'Huez is 13.8 km at an average gradient of 7.9% with 21 hairpin (les 21 virages) bends marked with panels honouring the winners of each stage that has finished there. Having finished there for the 22nd time in 2001, the authorities had to start again at the bottom with a double panel honouring Fausto Coppi and Lance Armstrong.
As the most legendary climb in recent Tour history, the Alpe has been the scene of chaotic crowds in the past 10 years. In 1999 Giuseppe Guerini won the stage despite being knocked off his bike by an over-enthusiastic spectator who stepped into his path to take a photograph (the photographer later sought out Guerini to apologize). The 2004 Tour de France route featured an individual time trial up Alpe d'Huez, which became a chaotic scene crowded with nearly a million fans, some of whom could not resist pushing their favorite rider toward the top. Armstrong won the stage and his time was only 1 second slower than the official record set by the late Marco Pantani of 37 minutes, 35 seconds.
Alpe d'Huez is also known as the "Dutch Mountain", a Dutchman having won there 8 of the first 14 finishes. Approximately one of every three fans on the mountain is from the Netherlands. The Dutch have won none of the last 12 stages finishing on Alpe d'Huez however; 6 climbs were won by Italian riders, 3 by American riders, one by Basque rider Iban Mayo, one by Fränk Schleck of Luxembourg with the most recent winner being a Spaniard, Carlos Sastre.
The peak also serves as the finish of La Marmotte, a one-day, 175-km road cycle ride with well over 5000 m. of climbing. It is also used for downhill, or Alpine skiing.
[edit] Winners of the Alpe d'Huez stage at Tour de France
The 2008 finish is at 1850 m, whereas in previous years this has been at 1860 m.[1]
*In the 1979 Tour de France, there were two stages at l'Alpe d'Huez.
[edit] Fastest Alpe d'Huez ascents
The climb has been timed since 1994 so earlier times are subject to some discussion. From 1994 to 1997 the climb was timed from a point 14.5km from the finish. Since 1999 a photo-finish system was used from 14km to the finish. Other times have been taken from 13.8km from the summit, which is the corner which marks the start of the climb. Other timings have also been taken from the road junction approximately 700 m from the start of the climb.[2]
These variations in the distance for timing the climb have led to an ongoing debate as to the fastest times. For example, the 'official' record of Marco Pantani of 37'35" has been cited by sources such as UK-based Procycling magazine, and World Cycling Productions - publishers of the Tour de France series of DVDs hosted by Phil Liggett and the magazine Cycle Sport. In his biography of Marco Pantani,[3] Matt Rendell notes the following for Pantani's times: 1994 - 38'00"; 1995 - 38'04"; 1997 - 37'35". The Alpe d'Huez tourist association describes the climb as 14.454km and also lists Pantani's 37'35" (avg. 23.08kph) as the record.[4]
Other sources, however, list Pantani's times from 1994, 1995 and 1997 as the fastest, based on alternative - and argued to be more accurate - timings adjusted for the 13.8km.[5] Such sources list Pantani's time in 1995 as the record at 36'40". In "Blazing Saddles", Rendell has changed his view and lists it as 36'50"[6] as does CyclingNews.[4] Second, third, and fourth fastest are Pantani in 1997 (36'45"), Pantani in 1994 (37'15") and Jan Ullrich in 1997 (37'30"). Lance Armstrong's time from 2004 (37'36") makes him only the fifth fastest, highlighting how the 1990s saw notably faster ascents than other eras.
A number of cycling publications have cited times prior to 1994, although distances for the time are typically not included, making comparisons difficult. For example, Fausto Coppi has been listed with 45'22" for the first ascent in a Tour de France in 1952.[5]
Alpe d'Huez was climbed extensively in the Tour from the 1980s, where Gert-Jan Theunisse, Pedro Delgado, Luis Herrera, and Laurent Fignon rode in times stated to be faster than Coppi's, but still not breaking the 40'. Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault have been reported as having the times of 48'00" in 1986.[7]
It was not until the 1990s, starting with Gianni Bugno and Miguel Indurain in 1991, that times faster than 40' were reported, including times in the 39' range for Bjarne Riis in 1995 and Richard Virenque in 1997. For the 2006 Tour, Floyd Landis was listed at 38'34" and Andreas Kloden at 38'35" (in the 19 July 2006 edition of L'Équipe).
Procycling listed the time of the stage winner in 2006, Fränk Schleck, as 40'46", the first time that the stage winner took more than 40 minutes since 1994. The increase in climbing speed in the 1990s had been attributed to the use of doping products, primarily Erythropoietin or EPO. A number of riders with sub-40' times, such as Alex Zülle, Riis, and Virenque, have confessed to using such products during this time. There is also also strong evidence that Pantani's records were achieved with the assistance of EPO.[8][9]
[edit] Ascent times
* The 2004 stage was an individual time trial.
[edit] Skiing at Alpe d'Huez
| Alpe d'Huez | |
|---|---|
| Location: |
Alpe d'Huez, France
|
| Nearest city: | Alpe d'Huez, France |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Vertical: | 2224 m (7299 ft) |
| Top elevation: | 3330 m (10925 ft) |
| Base elevation: | 1120 m (3674 ft) |
| Skiable area: | 236 km² (58318 acres) |
| Runs: | 121 |
| Longest run: | 16 km |
| Lift system: | 84 (6 cable cars, 10 gondolas, 3 access lifts, 24 chairlifts, 41 drag lifts) |
| Lift capacity: | 95,000 skiers/hr |
| Snowfall: | 5.48 m/year (216 in./year) |
| Snowmaking: | 64 km² (15814 acres) |
| Night skiing: | Limited, 1 lift, 2 days/week |
| Web site: | Alpe d'Huez |
Alpe d'Huez is one of Europe's premier freeskiing venues. The site of the Pomagalski's first surface lift in the early sixties, the resort gained popularity when it hosted the bobsleigh events of the 1968 Winter Olympics. At that time the resort was seen as a competitor to Courchevel as France's most upmarket purpose built resort but the development of Les Trois Vallées, Val d'Isère, Tignes, La Plagne and Les Arcs saw Alpe D'Huez fall from favour in the 1970s and early 1980s.
With 236km of piste and 84 ski lifts, the resort is now one of the world's largest. Extensive snowmaking facilities helped combat the ski area's largely south-facing orientation and helped Alpe d'Huez appeal to beginner skiers, with very easy slopes. The expansion of the skiing above the linked resorts of Vaujany, Oz-en-Oisans, Villard Reculas and Auris boosted the quantity and quality of intermediate grade slopes but the resort is mostly known for freeskiing, drawing many steep skiing enthusiasts to its high altitude terrain.
Aside from the Tunnel and Sarenne black runs, the latter the world's longest at 16km, many Off-piste opportunities exist both from the summit of the 3330 m Pic Blanc and the 2808 m Dome des Petites Rousses. These include the 50-degree Cheminees du Mascle couloirs, the open powder field of Le Grand Sablat, the Couloir Fleur and the Perrins bowl. Up to 2200 m of vertical descent are available with heli drops back to the resort's altiport. The proximity to the exclusively off-piste resort of La Grave as well as tree skiing at Serre Chevalier and the glacier and terrain parks of Les Deux Alpes have made Alpe d'Huez a popular base for skiers looking to explore the Oisans region.
[edit] 1968 Winter Olympics
At the 1968 Winter Olympics in neighboring Grenoble (65 km (40.4 miles) away), it hosted the bobsleigh events.[10] Costing FRF 5,500,000 to complete and constructed during the spring of 1966, the track hosted the 1967 FIBT World Championships though the four-man event was cancelled due to thawing ice which led to modifications in the spring of that year.[10] These modifications included adjusting the refrigeration systems to turns 6, 9, 12, and 13; turn 12 was covered with stone and earthwork to prevent concrete from coming up, freezing turn 12 with liquid nitrogen, and putting shades up on turns 6, 9, 12, and 13 to prevent the sun from melting the track.[10]
| Sport | Length (meters) | Turns | Vertical drop (start to finish) | Average grade (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobsleigh | 1500 | 13 | 140 | 9.33 |
No turn names were given for the track.
[edit] Sister cities
Alpe d'Huez's sister cities are:
[edit] References
- ^ "L'Alpe-d'Huez dans le Tour de France". mrambaul.club.fr. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Alpe d'Huez". www.gastrobiking.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ Rendell, Matt (2006). The Death of Marco Pantani – A Biography. Weidenfeld & Nicholson. ISBN 9780297850960.
- ^ a b Tim Maloney (July 21, 2004). "Armstrong dominates on l'Alpe d'Huez". www.cyclingnews.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ a b "Les temps de référence dans la montée de l'Alpe d'Huez". grimpee.alpe.9online.fr. Retrieved on 2008-07-20.(French)
- ^ Rendell, Matt (2007). Blazing Saddles. Quercus (United Kingdom). ISBN 9781847241559.
- ^ "L'Alpe d'Huez - The first strike". www.cyclingnews.com (July 2003). Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ Matt Rendell (March 7, 2004). "The long, lonely road to oblivion". observer.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ Matt Rendell (2006). The Death of Marco Pantani – A Biography. Weidenfeld & Nicholson, p. 178. ISBN 9780297850960.
- ^ a b c d 1968 Winter Olympics official report. pp. 104-105. (English) & (French) - accessed February 27, 2008.
[edit] External links
- L'Alpe-d'Huez dans le Tour de France (French)
- Ski Resort Website (in French & English)
- Map and details of 5 Cycling Routes up Alpe d'Huez (in English)
- Independent Alpe d'Huez Skiing Guide (in English)
- VeloNews map of the climb with numbered corners
- Interactive road map with photos of each hairpin-bend and road sign
- Google Map of Various Cycling Routes and Landmarks
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