L’Alpe d’Huez has become a legendary mountain climb, with the men’s pro peloton having tackled the ascent in the Tour de France 33 times since 1952. The Tour de France Femmes will finish atop the classic climb on Sunday for the finale of the eight-stage women’s edition, and it will be more than a stage victory up for grabs. What makes the climb in the heart of the French Alps the one everyone wants to win? All signs points to, well, an actual ‘sign’.
After ascending the 21 switchbacks that snake up 1,120 metres of elevation gain in 13.8km, with several sections at a sustained 13% gradient, and surviving the colossal throngs of fans lining the entire path, each winner gets his, and now her, name etched on a placard. The Tour de France Femmes enters the mountains on stage 7 to Le Grand-Bornand, and the race will be decided on Sunday's final stage, which brings the riders up the 21 hairpins of Alpe d'Huez.
“I think the most beautiful thing is to climb it in the Tour de France as women, and people are waiting for it and will be on the side of the road cheering for us. It’s going to be a very special day,” French champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot told Cyclingnews . The special signs at each bend are numbered in descending order, so No.
21 is the first passed at the bottom, where the road is also steepest. The markers indicate the elevation on the road and had been used decades before to alert snowploughs of their progress to the resort at the top in the winter. The No.