Hi, i need some advice. planning a trip round france in the summer and we want to take in the stage that goes over alp d’huez, then drive up to annecy to see the penultimate stage.

I was going to drive to the mountains the day before and basically slap a tent by the side of the road two thirds of the way up.

has anyone done this before? does anyone know the good spots? how early we may need to get there etc? can we ride up it the morning of the stage etc? any advice welcome!!!!

cheers.

I think the day before may not be soon enough as the mountain gets rammed with campers .I think 2 days before gets you a spot Try camping near Dutch corner wear orange and drink Amstel!!!!!!1

The day before will be too late, all the mountain will be covered by then.

Depends where exactly you go but as a general rule, the famous mountains will not have a spare inch of space on them with one day to go. Try 3 days – if only to pitch a tent, drive down and stay in town then ride back up on the evening before the race comes through. You won’t be able to ride up it on the morning either, they close the roads for the whole day.

You probably won’t be able to drive off it immediately after the race either, the road will be absolutely jammed for the next 24hrs!

bugger… i thought that maybe the case. There’s no way i can get there much earlier due to timings of the latter parts of our trip. i may have to re-evaluate the priorities. 1 day less of the in-laws isnt such a bad thing…

i’d make it a week less of the in-laws to be sure! People camp out up to a week in advance and remember centenary! But definately head to Dutch corner.

There are a few campsites in the valley around Bourg
It gets rammed a cpl of days before on the Alp itself.
You can ride up on the morning of the race, road is closed about 4 hrs before the race. You wont break any records tho, too many walkers and last minute cars going up.

Camp away from the loony crowds at Allemont. Get up in the morning, enjoy breakfast and a shower, then catch the FREE bus to Oz Station, then catch the Poutran lift up to A D’H. Walk down the road as far as you want.

You could even take your bike, MTB (my personal preference) or road, and ride back to Allemont at the end of the day…

We’re near Briancon, plan is something like driving over the Lauteret very early morning, parking wherever we can find and riding the rest of the way.

yes TroutWrestler!!! this looks like my dream. im well up for the madness, but that sounds like a good plan. thanks. i knew STW would help!

Yep Trout has it right.

I doubt any campsites will have any room left by now and if they have they usually want bookings for a week, sometimes 2 weeks that time of year. We stayed in an apartment next to a campsite called La Preoula which was on bend 16 of the climb.

There won’t be room on the climb to camp, but if it’s warm you could probably just kip down outdoors in a sleeping bag. Bit dodgy though as we’ve had it 30c+ and about 5c cold and and wet in July.

We’re staying Oz for a week this summer but sadly 1 1/2 weeks after the Tour goes through.

free camp in the woods just outside bourg d- head toward ville notre dame–ride up on the day , but you must remember there is no cover from baking sun– so be prepared–personally i wpould ride up and get back down into bourg d and watch in a bar !! greatatmosphere , cold leffe, see all the race unfold….