Lourdes - Hautacam - stage 18 Tour de France 2022

Jul 22, 2022

3 min read

Updated: Sep 7

Watching the TDF live on TV is great, especially nowadays with 4K or at least 1080p coverage from all angles, but nothing is quite like the experience of being there on the day, on the side of the road with all the adoring cycling fans anticipating those blink-and-you-missed-it few seconds when the peloton whooshes past in a blur of spinning pedals and wheels, tanned limbs clad in blazing colour and all the intense concentration on the road ahead that makes you think afterwards, did that just happen because as soon as they are there, they are gone. Rush back home now to watch them advance up the Col d'Aubisque. It seems more personal now.

Wout van Aert Jumbo-Visma

The Tour de France and the Vallée d'Ossau

The Tour de France cyclist regularly surveys the roads of the Ossau Valley and, in particular, two of its mythical passes, the Aubisque and the Marie Blanque. The race stopped there in 2007 at the Col d'Aubisque (16th stage Orthez/Gourette-Aubisque), in 2018 at Laruns (19th stage Lourdes/Laruns) and in 2020, again at Laruns. This was the setting for the 9th stage, which took place on September 6, 2020, and led the riders from Pau with several passes on the menu, particularly the challenging ascent of the Col de Marie Blanque in the Aspe/Ossau direction.

Route

Louvie-Juzon, Ossau Valley

Louvie-Juzon, Ossau Valley / Stage 18 Lourdes - Hautacam

We are fortunate to live in the Ossau Valley with several options for watching a Tour de France stage in Louive-Juzons. However, this doesn't mean we skip the high volume of travelling supporters on the road. All of this adds to the theatre on the day!

Louvie-Juzon / Caravan

We always take our van to the Tour de France stage as it is helpful to have a comfortable space with air conditioning, and kitchen and bathroom facilities as you have many hours to wait before the tour starts. You have to get to your chosen location early, leaving enough time to find a suitable spot and avoid missing the road closure deadline.

Due to COVID-19, the last two tours had a reduced caravan, so it was wonderful to see the full complement this year as it helped create hype that the tour's stage has started and is on its way. The caravan arrived shortly after one o'clock, with the tour coming through just after two thirty pm. That meant it was time to get some lunch before the riders came through but leaving enough to get to our separate locations to take our photographs.

Louvie-Juzon

During the descent into Louvie-Juzons, two race motos got kicked off the Tour de France for causing Jack Bauer and Nils Eekhoff to crash through a pinch point in Louvie-Juzons. About 50 km into stage 18, Jack Bauer (BikeExchange-Jayco) was caught up in an unpleasant crash through a pinch point.

The New Zealander was shown chasing hard through the cars when he, a press motorbike and a braking UAE Team Emirates team car converged as the road narrowed to barely more than a car’s width. Bauer attempted to cut between the two motor vehicles, only to find he had nowhere to go but slam straight into the back of the car.

On repeat viewing, it’s clear that Bauer’s incident was preceded by a tumble for DSM’s Nils Eekhoff just a few metres further up the road, and on closer inspection, he too was obstructed by a race moto which had stopped suddenly. It was Eekhoff’s crash that caused the knock-on effect behind.

Louvie Juzon

The night before...on the Aubisque

Night before the Tour de France arrived for stage 18 - Lourdes- Hautacam

Col d'Aubisque

Around 9 pm the night before, we drove to the summit of the Col d'Aubisque to see the festivities. The weather was foul but still mysterious and beautiful. The temperature had dropped below 12 degrees Celcius, enveloped in low clouds, but the atmosphere was warming and electric, with supporters celebrating on their way.

There were a couple of cyclists attempting the climb, but I couldn't help but notice that they did not have any lights on their bikes, which is a rookie error in the mountains, especially when the mountain is cloaked in clouds with a few pockets of clear vision of the road ahead.