Alpe d'Huez finish lines

neeb

Wasn't sure where else to post this... Simple question (or maybe not), which finish line is implicitly assumed when people talk about going for personal best times for Alpe d'Huez ascents, especially if attempting under 1 hour? And are there only 2 finish lines (the first one and the Tour de France one), or several? I should say that I have never been there (yet).

ddraver

When I was a nipper, I was there and the start finish "banners" were at the bottom and top of the hill - The last bit they do on the telly, through the town is full of cafes and cars and walkers so you could nt ride it flat out....

BG2000

I'm pretty sure the 'start' is the first uphill section. The only time it's been used for a TT in the Tour, the start was a hundred meters or so from this point, so it's difficult to gauge Lance's TT time.

At the bottom, it's dead flat until you swing round to the left at which point it immediately ramps up at 11%. There's nothing else to use as a marker, so I'm fairly sure it's this corner.

At the top, there is sometimes a white line painted/chalked on the road, just before the 'podium' that's used for the weekly amateur bunch races. This is a few hundred meters after the last hairpin bend and after the tunnel as you enter the village.

I only timed myself once, having arrived at the bottom really fresh and ready. 57 minutes later I arrived at the top in a right state. I was only on a 'fast' touring bike with a rucksack, so hardly perfect conditions, but I was surprised at how hard it was to go under the hour. I'd say if you can do under the hour on a normal racing bike, you're doing pretty well and should be fairly pleased. And if you can do this after a couple of Hor Category climbs on the way, then you're definately doing well !

dabber

I don't know how accurate this Strava segment is?

http://app.strava.com/segments/661401

greasedscotsman

The finish used for the Tour is on the Avenue du Rif Nel and there is a marker post showing where it is. The start, in terms of times for the Tour has varied over the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d'Hue ... ez_ascents

The climb has been timed since 1994 so earlier times are subject to discussion. From 1994 to 1997 the climb was timed from 14.5 km from the finish. Since 1999 photo-finish has been used from 14 km. Other times have been taken 13.8 km from the summit, which is the start of the climb. Others have been taken from the junction 700m from the start.

And the TT in 2004 started in Bourg d'Osions, which maybe adds another km (?) to the distance.

I would suggest that most people time themselves from the sharp left hander that people have already mentioned to the marker post on the Av. du Rif Nel.

ddraver

Are there not banners and signs at the start/finish - I'm sure there were (admittedly pathetic) start/finish banners when I was young, and in the Pyrennees last year there were specific signs at the start/finish to each climb with some simple stats and even signs every kilometer with the average grade and such...

greasedscotsman

The marker at the finish looks like this...



Would make sense that there was one at the bottom, but I've never seen it. It wasn't that important to me with the kinda time I was doing!

neeb

Thanks for the replies!

greasedscotsman wrote:

The marker at the finish looks like this...

greasedscotsman wrote:

I would suggest that most people time themselves from the sharp left hander that people have already mentioned to the marker post on the Av. du Rif Nel.

That's the place where the 2010 version of my tacx RLV Alpe d'Huez TT finishes (but not the 2007 one). It seems to involve a going quite a way through the town however, and negotiating two roundabouts (a right turn and then a left turn - on the tacx video it looks like the middle of nowhere!) Isn't it likely to be pretty busy?

BG2000 wrote:

At the top, there is sometimes a white line painted/chalked on the road, just before the 'podium' that's used for the weekly amateur bunch races. This is a few hundred meters after the last hairpin bend and after the tunnel as you enter the village.

This is quite a bit before the Av. du Rif Nel. I think?

greasedscotsman

Yes, the Tour route does go quite a way through the town. It comes into the town on the Route d'Huez, past the tourist office and through the tunnel onto the Route de la Poste. Then onto the Route du Signal, turns right onto the Avenue de l'Etendart, over a small mini roundabout and then a left turn onto the Avenue du Rif Nel.

I'm sure the amateur races BG2000 is talking about don't use this finish as it would cause too much disruption to the town and use one just outside the Tourist Office as he/she says.

neeb

greasedscotsman wrote:

Yes, the Tour route does go quite a way through the town. It comes into the town on the Route d'Huez, past the tourist office and through the tunnel onto the Route de la Poste. Then onto the Route du Signal, turns right onto the Avenue de l'Etendart, over a small mini roundabout and then a left turn onto the Avenue du Rif Nel.

I'm sure the amateur races BG2000 is talking about don't use this finish as it would cause too much disruption to the town and use one just outside the Tourist Office as he/she says.

That makes sense, thanks. Got some pictures from the tacx RLV -

There is this place, which has a really obvious "arrivee" white line painted on the road (as well as the finishing banner for a race / sportive when the film was taken). It's actually just before the tunnel, which you can see immediately ahead:


But this is about a mile before the Av. du Rif Nel... And when you get there it doesn't look like much!


It would certainly be much easier to get to the first point in under an hour, which is only about 12.2km from the bottom (rather than about 13.8 ). And yet you would think that the first one was the official summit unless someone told you otherwise.

greasedscotsman

neeb wrote:

It would certainly be much easier to get to the first point in under an hour, which is only about 12.2km from the bottom (rather than about 13.8 ). And yet you would think that the first one was the official summit unless someone told you otherwise.

I just rode for an hour and decided that was the top!

inseine

It's a good 5 minutes between the two finish points (took me about 7, but I'd lost a bit of enthusiasm by then!).

rc856

I went to the second one and there was a sign of some sort.
I was told the one in the village was the 'tourist finish'??

Took my start time from the box at the bottom where you can punch your start card...didn't work for us.