







The sight of the helicopter announced the arrival of the riders. People were cheering like crazy, there was a steady mass of fans all over the mountain.





(For creating a better atmosphere while reading this I suggest you play your favourite dutch dance music)We departed from Slovenia on wednesday around noon Awaiting us was a ten hour drive through Italy and then finally into France. We rolled through boring Italian motorway and finally arrived to the French border and consequently to the Alps. The sight was amazing as our road took us below the famous Galibier mountain pass.When we came within 5 kilometres of the famous mountain. There was a traffic jam. Apparently the police weren't letting people onto the mountain. Hey, no problem for us. We lied to the police about having a booked apartment in the Alp'D'Huez village. He wanted to see the papers, but we said we had them in the bags. He caved and finally decided to let us onto the mountain.Cars were lined up all over the mountain. Some of the dutch fans were there since monday and the atmosphere was amazing. They were partying hard in the rain. Every corner had it's own DJ and the party was neverending.The whole Alp'D'Huez village was packed with people. We set up our tent near a children's playground. The police didn't bother us, every square meter of the village was covered with fans.In the morning we stocked up on supplies for dinner and ate a small breakfast.Already in the morning, there were people everywhere. People were writing on the road and having a good time. There was light rain, but that didn't seem to spoil the atmosphere.Arriving at the Dutch corner was surreal. They were partying the whole day. Beer was flowing, people were dancing. The whole atmosphere was just amazing. The DJ was spinning dutch national party songs and cycling related fan songs such as this one:Praising the current dutch national champion Johnny Hoogerland.I decided to venture further down the mountain and the endless stream of people didn't stop.Fans came prepared. The smell of grilled meat was everywhere. Afterall, waiting whole day for the riders to arrive can make you pretty hungry.Every time I walked by this van the number of beer bottles kept increasing. They told me they have a lot of beer left.Fans dancing to the music.People were riding up the mountain with all kinds of bikes and styles. This guy decided to carry a plush horse on his back.British fans were mostly supporters of team Sky. And considering that Chris Froome is likely to win the race, one can understand why.The publicity caravan was throwing promotional items to the fans. After about an hour we all had our packpacks filled with random stuff.Picture of the loot. Everything from gummy bars, little sausages, chocolates, laundry detergent...Some more extravagant fans.Tejay Van Garderen came first through our spot, but was eventually caught by the french rider Christophe Riblon who won the stage.Fans didn't discriminate. Everybody cheered for everybody. The riders struggling to keep with the time limit received even greater attention from the fans then the leaders.Jens Voigt gesturing to the fans to move away from his line.The second time up the climb Teyaj Van Garderen was still leading, but his power was slightly fading.Richie Porte had to take care of his leader Chris Froome. Apparently Froome got a hunger knock and lost over a minute to the young Colombian Nairo Quintana. However he still leads to general classification by over five minutes.Richie Porte had to look back often to see if Chris Froome was still hanging on.The Belkin captain Bauke Mollema lost some time, but he still remains in the top 10 of the general classification.The french rider Sylvain Chavanel. He was in the but got swallowed by the peloton before the second ascent of Alp'D'Huez.Fans pushing fans.Australians were a bit disappointed after their rider Cadel Evans performed under expectations. But they still seemed to enjoy themselves.The next day we descended the mountain through Col de Sarenne and the view was breathtaking. The nature in the french Alps does not disappoint.