l'Alpe

Wednesday I was able to get my guests to the start and in their respective team cars for their amazing day at the Tour. After the start, I tucked in to the caravan of team busses and followed them (sometimes slowly) up and down and around the hairpins on the way to Bourg d'Oisans. Once there, I jumped in Dario's car and followed Nibali up the Alpe d'Huez. The fans were amazing. We rounded one bend to see a sea of orange-clad Dutch fans. The devil was spotted quite early up the hill as well. Apparently, there were more fans on the Galibier and Croix de Fer.

Unfortunately, Nibali ran out of steam but showed a desire to suffer in order to learn the ropes. He picked up rider after rider almost the whole way up. Dario was great as usual, yelling at the young Sicilian the only way a loud mulleted Venetian ex-pro can. He also passed water to almost every rider we went past... Ryder, Schumi, Bruseghin and the rest.

Afterward, we enjoyed dinner at a great French place, got a quick night's sleep, and headed back down the Alpe for the start of the next stage. A road block until 2:00 meant that we couldn't actually leave Bourg d'Oisan! We eventually got back to Basel at about 7:00... whew! glad that's over. Great experience, but a nice week to cross off! I've now been to the Tour and back FOUR times!

Now if I could just get back on my bike...


Convoy!


This guy's gonna be a great GC rider someday.


On the lower slopes of l'Alpe d'Huez.


A little higher up... then my battery kicked it!