Today is the fifth annual Alpe d’HuZes, a purely Dutch event that sees amateur cyclists riding up and down Alpe d’Huez’s 21 bends in aid of cancer charities.
The stats for this event are staggering: 4300 cyclists riding the bends six times to (hopefully) raise 20m€. And let’s not forget the stats of the course: the access road to Alpe d’Huez from Bourg d’Oisans is 14km long, rising over 1000m. An accomplished and fit cyclist would generally make the ascent in just over an hour, and Marco Pantani set the record for the Tour de France in 1997 with a time of 37 minutes and 35 seconds.
But today’s riders aren’t professionals; and rather than making just one ascent, the aim is to ride up and down the bends a total of six times, either as a team or alone. It’s massive test of endurance, both mental and physical. Watching the riders enter resort today I was amazed and inspired by their courage and determination. But I have to admit not feeling so positive about the event at the start of the week…
In fact, I’ve been a bit of a grouch since I realised just how many Dutch were arriving and how slowly they drive! It’s my first summer in Alpe d’Huez and my first experience of the HuZes. The mass arrival began last week. Overnight, all the cars on the roads and in the car parks were Dutch. All the voices in resort and Bourg d’Oisans were Dutch.
The supermarket shelves that normally hold on water, pasta and cereal bars were empty; and the campsites were full. The road up to Alpe d’Huez was littered with cyclists training for today’s event, and numerous Dutch cars driving at 20km/hr to encourage the cyclists. Not to mention those screaming down the hill, cutting corners and scaring the life out of careful overtakers!
Now, this being France, driving at 20km/hr on a 70km/hr road was intolerable for most and even I found myself cursing the pace of the drivers, to the point where I’ve not bothered trying to drive the bends since Sunday. On a trip to Les Deux Alpes during the week, I took the road over the Col de Sarenne instead, down through Clavans and Mizoen to the barrage.
Even here, on this one-track lumpy mountain road, I found myself stuck behind a gaggle of Dutch cyclists and a pink van with an inflatable white pig on top (?!?). Being stranded on our rainy mountain in June isn’t my idea of fun, but – with no sign of blue sky for over ten days – the campers had it worse! Thankfully today the rain has abated, the winds have died and there’s just enough cloud cover to protect the riders from an unexpected dose of sunstroke.
Walking up to the Palais des Sports, outside which the cyclists complete one circuit, the transformation of the resort is apparent. Any other nationality (and bear in mind, we are in France) is totally swamped by the Dutch. There are literally thousands and thousands in resort. The resort is covered orange banners and balloons. I heard no French or English voices, and saw no locals… everyone’s too busy working, making the most of this unexpectedly large event.
The cyclists started at 4am so some bars and restaurants have been open since 5am. It’s going to be a long day for everyone involved but with the great atmosphere, the adrenaline will get everyone through. With all the cheering, BBQs and excitement, it’s easy to forget the purpose of the event, and one at which it’s extremely successful; raising money to fight cancer.
One in three people in Holland develop cancer. That’s a huge proportion, and the aim of the organisers of the event is: “for cancer to evolve from a deadly disease into a chronic illness”. To this end the event aims to raise over 20m€ this year alone.
On my way home I spotted a row of photographs of those who have lost their fight against cancer. They were posted outside the church, an inspirational reminder to the cyclists of what it is they’re trying to achieve today, not a cure for cancer, but “to facilitate and inspire people to lead happy and healthy lives in harmony with cancer”.
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