Dutch riders dreaming of crazy party corner of Alpe d’Huez

VOIRON, France: Dutch corner is known for being the biggest and craziest party in cycling.
Thousands of orange-clad, booze-fueled cycling enthusiasts and young revellers flock to corner seven of Alpe d’Huez every time the Tour de France climbs the iconic mountain.
And they create a unique, noisy and hectic atmosphere — even by Tour de France mountain pass standards.
This year, the Tour will head up the 21 Alpe d’Huez hairpins on Friday — and some of the Dutch fans rocking to Europop tunes will have already been there for days by the time the peloton passes.
More Dutch riders have won a Tour de France stage on Alpe d’Huez than any other nationality, including the host country.
For Dutch riders in the Tour, this will be a poignant moment.
“It’s a super special mountain, of course, Dutch Mountain and the famous corner seven,” said Dutch rider Thymen Arensman before the Tour began.
Arensman has been on Dutch Corner before — and not just for training rides.
“I have super special memories of this climb because when I was a little kid, like so many other Dutch people, I went there with my parents on holiday,” said the 26-year-old Netcompany Ineos rider, who won two Tour stages last year.
“I was really keen and eager as a little child to do this climb also as fast as possible.
“So (I have) really good memories there from my childhood.”
Arensman and his Netcompany team-mates trained on the Alpe d’Huez hairpins before the Tour began.
“We did the climb a few times, but the climb is still just as hard as I remember as a little kid,” he added.
“The famous corner seven will be amazing.”
Just getting to that point of the race this year will have been no mean feat, given how hard the 113th edition of the Grande Boucle has been.
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