The Ride: Alpe D’Huez

What’s it like to ride up arguably the most famous mountain in Le Tour de France and, more importantly, can you do it? If you like your blogs finished in under 40 words, the summary is ‘hard’ and ‘yes’. Thanks for reading…

Still here? Great! Alpe D’Huez is famous for it’s 21 Hairpins (Les 21 Virages), with each bearing the name of a previous stage winner. I’ve personally never managed to read them all – it seems like a good idea at #21, with the legendary Fausto Coppi who won in 1952, but within 10 metres of the second ramp, focus shifts solely to counting down the numbers and keeping my internal monologue internal!

Alpe D’Huez’s famous hairpins, with Le Bourg-d’Oisans in the valley below

Unlike a lot of the cols in the area, Alpe D’Huez offers no opportunity to ease yourself into the climb. As you approach from Le Bourg-d’Oisans, you can see the top, so there’s no hiding from the scale of the challenge. The steepest and longest ramps are the first ones and so it’s important you’ve used any approach roads to warm up. If you’re doing this as a single climb, it’s well worth heading for a short spin along the valley floor so you don’t hit The Alp cold. Regardless of any prep, pacing yourself is key.

If you have good legs, you can always pick up speed near the end (apparently), but if you’ve burnt your matches early, there are definitely no shops selling new legs that will get you to the top. Depending on your experience, you’re looking at anything from 45 to 90+ minutes of relentless climbing. Ride at a pace you can sustain, use the hairpins to spin your legs out and take a moment to look around and enjoy the incredible views. Oh, and when you’re near the top, don’t forget to smile for the camera – the guys from Griffe Photo and Photo Breton are almost always on hand.

6 or so hairpins to go – smile like you mean it!

Onto the ride!

The first two hairpins are brutal. Each roughly 1km long, the gradient average stays above 10% – 10.4% and 10.2% respectively – before ‘settling’ to a more manageable 8% to the top. Let me be clear that manageable is a relative concept in the mountains! Take a look at the route and ride profile below – it’s worth noting two things here:

1. The hairpins are flat. You can use this to spin your legs out a bit, or build momentum depending how you feel.

2. The hairpins are flat. Given they’re part of the average, this means the ramps are generally steeper than their average.

Despite it’s imposing nature, D’Huez is a ride that you can chunk up and work your way through.

1. Turn 21-20 : Survive, get a sense of the challenge and take in the excitement of riding this classic mountain.

2. Turn 19-16 : Slight easing, settle in and enjoy the valley opening up below. Arrive in Garde D’Oisans

3. Turn 15 – 7 : Shorter ramps mean you feel like you’re making progress. Arrive at turn 7 – the famous Dutch Corner

4. Turn 6 – 3 : A long section to turn 6 brings you through Huez Village and from this point D’Huez resort is clearly in sight

5. Turn 1 & 0 : A sharp ramp brings you into the resort and past the TT finish line. Continue to turn 0 and on to the finish

This photo, taken with a potato back in 2011, looks across to Col de la Sarenne from the finish line

D’Huez is a giant of the Tour and the satisfaction of adding it to your ‘done’ list is incredible. There are prettier climbs in the area and plenty of bigger climbs, but there’s nothing quite like Alpe D’Huez. From the purpose built switchbacks, to the cycling history written all over the roads, this a special place to ride a bike. It’s a tough climb, but one of the few places where you can legitimately compare your mortal abilities to those of cycling legends.

This is a climb I will always come back to and, no matter how much I suffer on the way up, it’s always worth it for the incredible descent!

#Huez #tourdefrance #epicclimbs #frenchalps #hairpins #Ride