DAY 40: Wednesday July 11th: Culoz - Stage 10 Tour de France:
Walk: 17.0k, 5hrs: 18°C to 24°C, slightly cloudy, blue skies
Accommodation: Chambre d’Hote Ghoslaine Revol, 119 Poncet Ave Culoz
Culoz - centre of town is buzzing
Milton, Donna, Jan and Ian - to the mountain we go
Long walk up - no cars allowed
Lots of Aussies on way
Chaos at the corner
The peleton streams up th mountain
Ladies and mens is up same hill
The men's is in here somewhere
The Rhone valley from our spot
A cuppa while waiting for caravan
Peleton on way Up Grand Colombier
Helicopter hovers - Cadel is coming
Voeckler leads up mountain
Chaos turns to pandemonium
Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins - Milton in background
Cadel and Bradley - Ian in background in green shirt
Stragglers on the mountain
Ian, Jan, Leo, Milton, Donna, Anca
And the rest follow
Such an exciting day - Stage 10 of the Tour de France from Macon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. Too many photos to include all. We walked 6k up the Grand Colombier to where the gradient was 14.9% - enough to slow the cyclists so we could see their faces. The crowd, the helicopters, the caravanne, gendarmes, and the 180 cyclists all on the Grand Colombier was overwhelming on such a perfect day.
We’re woken at 7am by traffic outside our window. Breakfast supplied by the chambre d'hote is toast and jam - lucky Donna bought meuslii from Paris and we bought yoghurt. Off to Carrefour's supermarket to stock up for a picnic lunch and dinner tonight. We arrive at 8.20am to a queue of cyclists in helmets and cleated shoes waiting for the shop to open at 8.30am. The staff are in white tee shirts with polka dots and have a staff photo - wishing we'd brought a camera - we thought we were only going shopping.
1 hr later we leave with enough food for an army then back to our room to divi it up between the 4 of us. I bought 6 boxes of Ziplock bags for our next trip - don't know where yet. There's only our 2 back packs, so Milton and Ian get equal shares. A quick coffee then at 10.15am we join the throngs walking, cycling, skating, running, rollerblading up the mountain. Our plan is to walk about 4 to 5k depending on how far Donna gets with her infected ankle, but the trekking poles (and voltaren and rose the night before) help.
Zig zagging up past many nationalities, we see many French with Cadel Evans' support banners - he has a huge following in Europe. At the 6k mark we spy a spot in the shade between two campervans on a bend where two people are sitting in chairs, so we ask if it's OK to stop for a 10 min coffee break behind them while contemplating how much further we'll go. Next thing they are offering us chairs, tables, mats to sit on. After checking around us, we think it's the perfect spot to stay. Introductions all round, Anca and Leo are from The Netherlands who speak pretty good English. We sit and chat for a while.
I go for a short walk and return to find Anca has prepared a magnificent meal for everyone - our picnic is untouched, except for the wine which we share. Such generosity from people we don't know. At 2.10pm we see the caravanne - sponsors cars and decorated floats throwing goodies to outstretched arms - hats, caps, lollies, small dried sausages, cakes, water bottles, shirts, key rings, blow up pillows, Nesquick sachets, newspapers - the kids are quick to pounce. This lasts for 45 minutes then nothing.
At 3.10pm we hear helicopters and the gendarmes appear with a group of 6 cyclists. Thomas Voeckler leads, a Frenchman and crowd favourite. The helicopter sits above, the crowd goes crazy. We know the peloton has arrived. Cadel Evans is near the front with Bradley Wiggins in the yellow jersey on his tail. The riders are drenched in sweat as they push uphill faster than I could ride down. A cyclist looks for a toilet - none in Leo's van, nor the next but there is in the van opposite. The owner is protective and won't let anyone photograph him. Tour de France etiquette is not to photograph riders in problematic situations.
Then at 4pm, it's all over. A van with the sign "Fini de Tour de France" arrives, then there's a rush to get down the mountain. Donna's foot is sore, so her and Milton accept the kind offer from Leo and Anca for a ride back in their van with 2 extra seats - Ian and I walk the 6k. We realise if we hurry, we might see the end of the race on TV back in the room. We walk quickly, then run, cutting through vineyards and fields to the village centre, then up the road to our room. Donna and Milton are there and we'd forgotten to tell them that the TV is a projector, amp and set top box. We're just in time to see Thomas Voeckler win and the French crowd go wild. Wiggins and Evans finish a few minutes later together, so there's no change to the GC. The girls have a wine, the boys, a few beers while we watch replays and interviews.
After showers, dinner is left over lunch that we didn't eat, with 3 bottles of wine, while recounting memories of the day's events. Time for bed. We have a train and a plane to catch tomorrow.
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Jan cheers on stragglers
Home in time to see Voeckler win
Donna and Jan preparing dinner