Even when you strip away all the fanfare and crowds of race day, the road up Alpe d’Huez still echoes with tales of some of the most memorable battles in cycling history, and on Sunday, August 18, 2024, the Tour de France Femmes will deliver another fresh chapter.
The 21 famous bends where so many thrilling battles of the men’s Tour de France have taken place are dotted with signposts counting down to the top. They provide more than a marker of the ever-increasing altitude, simultaneously paying homage to the winners of the stages that played out on the slopes of the 13.8km Alpine climb in the past.
After the climb became the first summit finish of the Tour de France in 1952 the names that have earned themselves a place on those bend markers include Fausto Coppi, Bernard Hinault, Marco Pantani, Thibaut Pinot, Geraint Thomas and, most recently, Tom Pidcock. The question now is who will be the first rider from the Tour de France Femmes to be added to that list.
