2019 Tour de France

It's a beautiful week for the tour and the past two days took place very close to our home in Basel, Switzerland! The Tour de France is an absolute must-do event if you are near and able to visit!

The weather couldn't be better for the tour this year. A few friends and I were already planning on a morning hike through Basel-Land, but one of them put together a fantastic alternate plan to drive into Thann and hike up the Col du Hundsruck, the third ascent of Stage 6 from Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles. This stage is challenging with several ascents over the 160,5 km mountain.

These days are always enjoyable because it took less than 30 minutes to reach our destination, yet the villages are entirely different. Thann is a small village in the Cernay canton of France. In that short about of time, we shift from Swiss Deutsch to French and gorgeous French architecture. Upon arriving, we stopped for a quick coffee and pastry, then started our climb.

If you can visit one of these stages, be sure to arrive early and be ready to get your pictures! Our hike was relatively quick within just an hour. We arrived shortly after 11:30 AM to reserve our spot! Our stage estimate plotted the parade section to pass through around 1:30 PM and the riders to arrive around 3:30 PM.

 

These riders are incredibly fast. Much faster than they appear on television! This particular section of the sixth stage was near the third summit yet the riders were tightly grouped and disappeared within 20 seconds. It was incredible!

I think I may have to make a similar trek in future years to come!