Morzine-Avoriaz - 11 July

What a day to begin following the tour! Cadel gains the yellow jersey, Lance goes out backwards after crashing and we climb the final two summits and watch the leaders drama on the final climb. Our first climb of the day was the Col de la Ramaz, a 1200m 15 km slog at an average of 6.5%,. With the temperature touching 30 degrees, the sweat was pouring off after the first half hour. Fortunately the sublime alpine meadows, spectacular mountain vistas and endless spectators camped along the road, helped keep the mind focused. Then a crazy descent into Les Gets another short climb and the ski resort town of Morzine was in reach. A quick lunch hunched in the shade and then back on the bike for the stagger up Avoriaz, another 850m 15 km slog at 6.3% gradient. The fans lined the road most of the way up and most were in party mode, progressively getting more crazy towards the top. After descending a few k's, we found a good vantage point perched above a switchback to watch the race. It was 8pm by the time we made the hotel – tired but happy for a first day’s hit out. [Note my picture of Lance!]