Late June we returned to France for a week of work, followed by holiday. After a couple of days the family arrived in full force, as nephews Jeroen and Max signed up to cycle La Marmotte, one of the toughest challenges of the year, crossing the cols Glandon, Telegraphe, Galibier, and arrival on Alpe d'Huez. They had prepared properly for months, and were in great shape.
During the day many roads are closed, and we elected to see them on the Glandon, which ment leaving before the start at 7 AM. The weather was perfect, and we watched all the cyclists passing over the top. Jeroen and Max were one of the latest to start and arrived in good spirits on the first climb. After they got fresh supplied they started the descend. We returned to the house, and later in the day the family drove up to Alpe d'Huez to see the finish. It was a very hot day, and is was really tough for the boys; they arrived just before closure at the foot of Alpe d'Huez, and struggled their way up. They made it in the end, happy and very, very tired.
The next few days were real holiday, with even a bike ride. Piet's sister and brother in law left for Italy, and the others returned to Belgium. The following weekend Piet was scheduled to ride l'Etape du Tour, but he unfortunately contracted covid, and had to cancel. Luckily the symptoms were mild, and after a week he felt fine again. More on our own holiday in the following post....
