Immediately after our U.S. visit, we headed to France to catch the end stages of le Tour de France. We almost killed ourselves doing it... We landed in Zurich at 9am and were on the road again by about 11:30. After both of us woke up just before we hit a guard rail, we decided to pull over for 30 minutes for a nap.
Poor Chris... This was at the rest stop where we tried to get some shut eye. What were we thinking?
The beautiful village of Saint Sorlin where we stayed. We went over the mountain to Bourg d'Oisans where all the roads leading to Alpe d'Huez had been closed. We hiked to a good, steep spot on the mountain side and took naps, ate a picnic and people watched. I've included pictures of our favorite "characters" that we saw during the two days.
Many people attempted to ride up Alpe d'Huez. I guess it was too hard with a horse on his back.
Nacho?
Good thing he has a paper hat and a nice sweater to protect him from the sun.
This is just insane! Its one thing to walk or bike up the mountain, but this guy is cross country skiing up it!
Yeah, how are you going to sit down in that?
Every switch back is named after a famous rider, but there is also one named 'Dutch Corner'. The road is painted orange and every one wears crazy orange get-ups and gets smashed.
About an hour before the riders arrive, the sponsors put on a parade and throw junk at you. This year our favorites included: Nesquick, cookies, and...
samples of laundry detergent thrown out by these gentlemen.
Now on to the real reason to be there...
One of the fascinating things about going to the tour is that you don't know whats going on in the race until you see the first riders. It was a complete shock to see Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) and Pierre Rolland (FRA) fighting it up the mountain. Rolland went on to win the white jersey for best youngest rider at 24.
What was that about being a 'fan' and not a 'fanatic'?
Second part of the peloton and Chris. Mark Cavendish in the green jersey.
Please no comments about the hair! Long story short: our hotel didn't provide us with towels or soap so we had to use sweatshirts and face wash. The only other negative was the crazy traffic jam after the race. We ate dinner to see if things would clear out, but they just seemed to get worse! It took us 4.5 hours just to get out of the small town and back to the hotel which was only 30 miles away. Crazy!
Next day we headed to Grenoble for the individual time trial that would inevitably decide the winner of the race. The day after they would head to Paris to finish. We decided to stay in front of the podium and had a great view of the finish line 30 yards away. At least you see someone cross the finish about every 1-3 minutes so not as much waiting around. We were still standing for about 5 hours.
This guy was from Luxembourg where the Schleck brothers are from. He was singing "Wave Your Flag" from the World Cup songs. Sorry, Andy lost again this year.
Mr. Sammy Sanchez sporting the poka-dot jersey for King of the Mountains.
Contador who?
And this year's winner: Cadel Evans! Going into the race today he was in third place. When he crossed the line he was leading by 1 min. 30.
Second place again, Andy...
Cadel ready for the maillot jaune. BMC is a Swiss bike manufacturer and the team is based in Santa Rosa.
Mark Cavendish collecting his green jersey for sprint points.
That's Chris and me.
After all the excitement in Grenoble, we headed to Geneva for a little rest day before heading home.
Lake Geneva or Lac
Léman if we want to be critical. The Jet d'Eau in the background (one of the largest fountains in the world).
More bikes? Get me outta here! The Geneva triatholon was going on when we headed to the city center.
Sir, where are your pants?
Anyway, another great year at the tour!
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