Once all the merchandise cars finally made their way past us at the top of the mountain, the race officials and police escorts ensured the road was ready for the arrival of the riders. This was what I had been waiting for. After years of watching the race on tv back home in the middle of the night and thinking "I wanna go there one day" I was there.
The first man up the mountain and also the first man I ever saw live riding the tour de France was the Frenchman Pierre Rolland. He ended up winning the stage up to Alpe d'Huez which was probably the single most pivotal and important day of the 2011 Tour de France. If Cadel was ahead of or atleast with the two Riders from Luxembourg who were currently in 1st and 2nd overall as they rode past me at the top, then there was a good chance that Australia would have its first ever tour de France winner!
Sure enough Cadel was leading the small group which meant there was a very good chance that Australia could secure their first ever Tour de France victory tomorrow!
The next half an hour or so was less exciting, with the position of the rest of the riders not having and great significance on the outcome of the tour, but nonetheless we stood there and cheered them all on towards the finish line. The actual spectating of the Aple d'Huez stage was really not anything that shocking, and the most memorable element of the stage was certainly the atmosphere and the build up, knowing that after several thousand kilometers of riding across France, up and down mountains for nearly three a winner could well be decided on this very day. And after the arrival of the riders, it was STILL not decided who would win the tour, Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck each had about a 50/50 chance of taking home their first tour and the only thing that was certain was that the winner would be decided on tomorrows stage!
After dinner myself, Jake and his aunt went for a walk around the village in an effort to walk off the feast we had just consumed and before we knew it Jake and I were racing each other on Go-Kart's on the ice rink! Seriously, at night they set up a small track and for quite a large fee you can race Karts on it for a while, a pretty nice way to cap off the epic experience of Alpe d'Huez. That wasnt quite the end though, how could I leave the mountain without a souvenir to remember some of the best days of the trip and my life? So we headed over to where the finish line for the race to find that the vinyl that they stuck to the road to form the finish line was still fully intact and just sitting there, so we each peeled off some of the finish line from the 2011 Tour de France stage of Alpe d'Huez, the stage where Cadel evans may well have set himself up to win Australia's first ever Tour deFrance.
