Story
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<p>Tuesday, day 2, started with a terrible weather forecast. Due to that, and the fact that we were worried about not being able to climb Alpe D´Huez as planned on Friday (as the mountain may be closed due to the number of spectators, over 1 million were claimed last time the race got there in 2008), we decided to go to Alpe D´Huez that morning. If you go to the Alps cycling, you have to do Alpe D´Huez, the first ever mountain stage finish in The Tour (stage won by Fausto Coppi, in 1952, one of the greatest riders ever and maybe still the most charismatic). The Alpe D´Huez is an Out of Category climb of 13.8 km at 7.9% average incline, climbing to 1,850 meters and with the World famous 21 hairpins, named after riders who have won at its summit (latest winners are being added to a previous name on each bend, as there are more than 21 stage winners now - more on Alpe D´Huez here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d%27Huez">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d%27Huez</a>).</p>
<p>After racing down Les Deux Alpes (11 min descent for me for 9 km, 12 seconds ahead of Chema), it started pouring with rain. Going down to Bourg d´Oisans we got completely soaked, and completely soaked we started the climb to Alpe D´Huez, in 6-7C temperatures. This is a really hard climb. Carlos and Chema raced to the top in 1h 10 min (at a very impressive 11.83 km/h average) with Chema winning the sprint by half a wheel, and with Nacho coming in 5 min behind. I lost 22 min on Chema, taking 1hr 32 mins to get to the top, sugar low included. A really tough climb, which I did at an average of 8.9 km/h and which felt more like a week! Never has a hot chocolate felt as good as the one we had at the top!</p>
<p>You can see the podium of the climb on the photos on the left. Going down was also amazing, it took me 12 min and 9 seconds, at an amazing 68.15 km/h in the rain and despite the hairpins! Chema and Nacho got to the bottom 2 min later, with Carlos a further 2 min behind.</p>
<p>With teeth still chattering, we made our way from the bottom of the climb to the top of Les Deux Alpes, another climb of this 1st category col, and straight into the apartment for a hot shower and under the duvet to watch the Tour stage. Then, another shock on the TV. 25 cm of snow on the Galibier (one of our climbs for Thursday and Friday), the road closed and thousands of drivers stranded. This got us very worried, but we sorted it out with a couple of beers after dinner ;-)</p>
<p>You can see details of this ride here: <a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42836772/">http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42836772/</a></p>