TOUR DE FRANCE: Les Arcs 2009

The Tour de France stage to Bourg St Maurice lacked the drama of the 1996 visit to Les Arcs (scene of Indurain's downfall - more here.

What could be better - a start in Switzerland, through Italy, down into Bourg St Maurice, via the Grand and Petit St Bernard passes, before a final climb up to Arc 1800.

Except the decision was taken for the riders to finish down in the valley in Bourg St Maurice - so that the suspense could continue right until the final Saturday and the climb of Mont Ventoux.  Here's the Wikipedia account of the 2009 Tour.

In the event, the Ventoux stage proved to be a bit of a let-down, and the stage to Bourg is little remembered.  Or at least remembered for the wrong things.  The winner of the stage, Miguel Astarloza, later tested positive for drugs, and the stage was awarded to Sandy Casar.

Here are the riders on the descent to Bourg St Maurice.

The finish line was in the road leading from the SNCF roundabout to the Funiculaire:

The following day the riders left from Bourg St Maurice.  Here they are on the very lower slopes of the Cormet du Roseland.

Lance Armstrong and co stayed - of course - in Arc 1950.  The Euskatel Euskadi team, on the other hand, stayed in the more modest environs of Arc 1800.  As did The Tour Doctor:

More on cycling in Les Arcs this summer here.  If you think the 1st category climb from Bourg St Maurice is too easy, go down to Landry, take the (much harder) climb to Peisey and up to Arc 1800 on the summer road, and then continue to Arc 2000.  The final climb from the Comborciere lift at 1800m to Arc 2000 (actually at 2100m) is a tough one....

TOUR DE FRANCE 1996: Les Arcs and The Beginning of The End for Miguel Indurain

The 1996 Tour de France can hardly go down as the greatest in history, given that the winner Bjarne Riis admitted taking drugs during the tour, with most of the other riders also implicated - see wikipedia account for some of the background.

Aside from this depressing backdrop, it is notable for two reasons: the first inclusion of the climb to Les Arcs, and the beginning of the end for Miguel Indurain.  Here's the route, which included the Chambery to Les Arcs stage, via Col de la Madeleine and the Cormet de Roselend:

Other features of the 1996 Tour include:

• Lance Armstrong having to give up at Aix-les-Bains - the start of his fight against cancer.
• Snow stopping the racing on the Cols de l'Iseran and Galibier
• Chris Boardman in his heyday, albeit not on the Les Arcs stage.

The stage to Les Arcs was also notable for seeing yellow jersey holder Stephane Heulot abandon on the Cormet de Roseland.

On the climb itself, we see Indurain dropped just before the Arc 1600 roundabout, and (in contravention of the rules) taking a drink.  Was he wearing too much, speculate the commentators.  Have a look at around 2:45 for the moment Indurain cracks, with Luc Leblanc going on to win the stage.

Gary Imlach was sent to Indurain's hotel (the Grand Hotel Paradiso) in Arc 1800 to find out more.  "I wasn't suffering but I didn't have the rhythm or strength to do it...."

It wasn't entirely the end of the road for Indurain - the next day he put in a very good performance in the Bourg St Maurice - Val d'Isere time trail.  But it was Les Arcs which marked the beginning of the end for "Big Mig".  It isn't the hardest climb in the world, but it is long - 15km.  Arguably the 2009 Tour would have been much more interesting if the organisers hadn't wimped out of taking the riders up to Arc 1800, rather than finishing in Bourg-St-Maurice.....

More on cycling in Les Arcs here. 

And below is a fuller version of that 1996 stage: