Requiem for the Puy de Dome

by GreylockGrinder on Jul 12, 2009 9:12 PM EDT Comment 8 comments

It looks like the Tour de France will never climb the Puy de Dome again. Sadly, one of the most storied climbs (Anquetil vs. Poulidor, Coppi, Ocana, Zoetemelk, Van Impe) will soon be too narrow for use. As of March next year, construction of a cog railway will begin, reducing the roadway to 3 meters wide (with 50 cm shoulders).

The story comes from www.cyclismag.com, a site with excellent coverage of French cycling issues (and some lovely snark in its daily news section). For the full story in French, see:

http://www.cyclismag.com/article.php?sid=5117

It seems that Christian Prudhomme tried to get them to postpone the beginning of construction for 4 months so there could be one last time trial up the Puy de Dome, but nothing doing.

Depending upon the approach, the climb is between 11 and 14 kilometers, averaging between 7 and 8 percent, with a maximum of about 13%. It was first incorporated into the Tour in 1952, at the suggestion of Raphael Geminiani; that was the year that Coppi won.

Perhaps the Puy de Dome has been cursed by Eddy Merckx? It was there, in 1975, that a spectator gave him a kidney punch that denied him his sixth Tour de France victory. Nevertheless, it's very sad to see this epic climb gone forever. The Tour's authorities were willing to compromise their arrangements to keep it in the roster, but it looks like the cog railway put the final nail in the coffin.

It's not clear from the article whether, after the construction, the road will still be open to cyclists between 7 and 9 am on Wednesdays and Sundays. Here's hoping it is.

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This is indeed very sad

I had a ride there canceled due to nasty storms last year. There was a train up this route until 1926 and then replaced by a road.

I think the shoulder to shoulder climb of Poulidor and Anquetil must be one of the most memorable in TdF history

A small correction in case anyone rushes there this summer. I believe currently one can only cycle it from 7-9 am on either Wednesday or Sunday.

sometimes life is a false flat

by Willj on Jul 13, 2009 2:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

PS - for those visiting to see a TdF stage soon

Every year in the Tour there is a publicity caravan (that drives by on every stages and throws out stuff – hats, foot, keychains, etc – to fans an hour or so before the pro pass) . Poulidor is usually part of the caravan sitting in the front of a car with a big Poulidor sign – he majestically waves as he passes by.

sometimes life is a false flat

by Willj on Jul 13, 2009 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wednesdays and Sundays it is.

Thanks for the correction – fixed it.

by GreylockGrinder on Jul 13, 2009 5:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That blows.....

oh come on, what’s next, and elevator to the top of Everest…geez, when did they move the Puy Dome to Texas..

Bah....Cavendish?!

by bradBordeaux on Jul 13, 2009 6:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Some things are perfect, I guess

And you just have to let them go before they disappoint you.

Okay, that’s bollocks, I know, but it’s the best I can do to rest this easily in my head. It is sad, it is a place with history, and it would have been good for them to find some way of including in at least one of the past twenty Tours. It didn’t happen, though, and now it never will.

by Drongo on Jul 13, 2009 9:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

very sad news

thanks for the post

by plinytheelder on Jul 13, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Considering the last time the climb was used was back in the 80's

This isn’t such terrible news. We’ve had 20 + years to emotionally detach ourselves from the Puy so this news is much less traumatic than hearing that the L’Alpe D’Huez or the Mortirolo in the Giro were being taken out of commission. Just the mere thought of that makes me weak in the knees. :)

by La3000 on Jul 13, 2009 9:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You can't TT up a 3 meter road?

After that TTT on what didn’t seem like much more than 5 meters, is this reasonable? Is this one of the few ironclad rules set by the riders (non) union, or is it a French rule that gets ignored for P-R, or what? Color me perplexed. Probably means they can’t get the camera motos and support up, which according to me means they need to have a 1 man mavic station every 50m or so with a bike and a couple of wheels—if you flat, you ride the flat to the next available wheel.

by JFS_PGH on Jul 14, 2009 9:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs