Sorella’s at the Tour de France Femmes 2024
What’s a great thing about being in a women’s cycling club? It’s that you have a bunch of gals with the same passion for biking as you do, and who love to explore and go on adventures!
When I learned that the TDF Femmes was going to have their final stage of the race finish at the top of the Alpe d’Huez, I just had to go. I love this area and have come to know it well. Except for twice, I have been the only gal on our Alpe trips in the past. Still great trips, but different vibe!
I (easily) talked my hubby into switching our men’s TDF trip for the women’s race. A small group of Sorella’s, Karen Richardson with her husband Tom and Kathleen Quinn with her niece Caroline, and three of our friends (Karen, Joe & Greg) from Connecticut joined us on our venture.
Walt & I arrived on Wednesday Aug. 14th to set things up, landing in Lyon, France. We drove up to our favorite little chalet just on the edge of the town of Le Bourg d’Oisans, built our bikes and settled in. The next morning we took a mellow shake out ride along the river to Allemond for lunch (so good!), and, to test out Walt’s leg. I should mention that he was bitten (hard) by a dog while riding the evening before we flew out. Don’t even get me started, but between the bite & the travel, his leg looked like a fat sausage from the knee down when we arrived. Long story short, he soldiered through and is alright now. Phew!
The Sorella group arrived later in the afternoon, secured their rental bikes and settled into the chalet. The next morning, we rode up the first 5 switch backs of the infamous Alpe d’Huez and then over the “balcony” for an incredible view of the valley. We added a few miles exploring over to Lac du Chambon and then rode back to town for lunch. Our Connecticut friends arrived that afternoon and secured their rental bikes and settled in.
Saturday the group drove down to Annecy, the “Venice of France”, to ride up to Chinaillion-Grand-Bornard to watch the finish of Stage 7. 24 miles up with over 3200’ of climbing to the base of the ski gondolas; 24 miles down with 550’ of climbing back down to the lake! It was a beautiful ride up, cloudy and not too hot, and the crowd waiting was large and enthusiastic! The energy was so positive and fun! While we waited, we had a wonderful time chatting with several local folks and a few who worked for Niewiadoma’s sponsors. Belgian Justine Ghekiere, wearing the polka dot jersey, rode through first with a significant lead, keeping her Queen of the Mountain jersey, but not enough to threaten the GC contenders. Demi Vollering had been involved in a crash the day before and Niewiadoma had taken the yellow jersey. Today, they came in together.
Sorellas in front of a beautiful lake.
The roads were still closed after the final racers made it to the finish, but we were able to evade the Gendarme and make it safely down the mountain. After our descent the others were still a bit jet lagged so they drove back to the Chalet while Walt & I had a nice meal and ice cream on the canals of Annecy.
The next afternoon was the final stage of the tour. Karen found the TDF Femmes avec Zwift Challenge, which included a cool jersey, a staggered mass start from town, the ability to ride through the actual finish line at the top of the Alpe d’Huez, a bike storage pen near the finish and a special gathering area for lunch. Most of us joined the challenge, but all rode up the mountain. The ride up the 21 Turns (the Alpe d’Huez) was great, well, in relative terms because I’m not really a climber. There were SO many “avec Zwift” jerseys, and they are bright! 21 Turns and the ride to the finish through town is only about 8.5 miles, but it is over 3700’ of climbing. Conversely, the ride down is only 26’ of climbing! I was able to achieve my second-best time on the climb, which I was extremely happy with! The crowd lining the climb was thin compared to the men’s tour, but they were just as supportive and helped us stay focused by cheering us on as we climbed. At the top, riding through the finish with everyone yelling and cheering and banging on the banner was a blast!
It was amazing when the race came through. The crowd was roaring, and though Vollering came through first with Niewiadoma a bit back in fourth, in the end Niewiadoma was declared the GC champion by a mere 4-seconds! I honestly believe this was the most exciting finishes to the TDF, men’s or women’s, I have ever seen!
Cheering on the Tour De France Femmes Avec Zwift!
The next day was a rest day that included a flat ride to Allemond, lunch next to a glacier and touring an ice cave up in La Grave.
The following day we drove to Mongenevre, Italy and rode to Sestriere, the site of the 2006 Olympic Games – alpine skiing. We had a wonderful lunch in a wooden cable car, played a little tourist and then had a beautiful descent down to the valley before climbing back up to our cars. The thing about this ride is that it’s an out and back, just 12.8 miles each way. But it’s 6.4 miles down and 6.4 miles up each way, climbing over 2100’ in 6.4 miles, each time. Thank God the scenery is amazing! And note to self; the Polenta for lunch was incredible, but not the best before a big climb!
Walt and I have lots of riding routes already mapped out in the area and while we have done the 10,000’ rides a day in the past, this trip we opted for the shorter routes so we could relax, heal his leg and enjoy the people and atmosphere more, while our friends had the option to ride as much or as little as they wished. So, for the remainder of the week everyone made their own ride schedule, riding many of the following: the Col du Galibier, the Croix de fer and Glandon, the Telegraph/Col du Galibier, the Villard Recluse-Pas du Confession, or a mellow ride to Venosc. No matter where you ride, this area of the world is just breathtaking!
After our rides some soaked their legs in the glacier river, shopped for gifts, or read a book. We made pizza from scratch and shared more than one bottle of wine. We showed off our cooking skills, each preparing a meal for everyone for one dinner, creating a wonderful menu for the week! We had lovely French neighbors with lots of kids renting the twin chalet next door. Their dog got confused and visited a few times, sweet guy. Their youngest son (guessing 3-years old) also joined us in the kitchen by mistake. He became enthralled with the Americans because then he dropped in several times afterwards to smile and stare at everyone, though he never spoke. Then, on their last day, as I was riding out he ran after me shouting “au revoir madame”! So cute! His older brother also visited (maybe 10 years old) and proudly practiced his English with us. We ate our lunches out, walked to town a few times for morning coffee and pastry, went to a music and food festival in the town of Oz one evening, some saw an acrobatic circus and concluded our trip with a group dinner at an outdoor cafe in town.
We climbed these mountains!
Perhaps we can organize some Sorella (with or without the fellas) trips in the future, as a club? Uhm, just a thought!
Au revoir pour l’instant mes amis!
If you’re interested in the history of this race, you might want to read this article:
The Tour de France Femmes’ Long and Winding Road: A brief history of the women’s Tour de France
Written by Ryan Mallon and published on Aug 10, 2024.
https://road.cc/content/feature/brief-history-womens-tour-de-france-302715