‘I hope nothing goes wrong’ - Excitement and fear as Pogacar, Evenepoel and Seixas brace for Alpe d’Huez crowds

French police stopped vehicles from travelling up the mountain on Thursday afternoon after the road, roadside spaces and ski resort became overwhelmed by cars, camper vans and spectators. Anyone still hoping to find a place on the climb must now continue on foot or by bicycle.

The closure offers an early indication of the atmosphere expected during two consecutive mountain stages finishing at Alpe d’Huez. On Friday, the peloton will approach the climb following a rapid run through the valley from Gap. A day later, the Tour returns via the narrow Col de Sarenne.

Alpe d’Huez has always been one of cycling’s greatest natural arenas, creating images that have helped define the Tour. But when the road begins to disappear beneath the crowds, the atmosphere can quickly become a sporting and safety concern.

Remco Evenepoel, who will race up Alpe d’Huez for the first time, admitted the prospect was both exciting and intimidating.

“I’m looking forward to discovering it, but it can also be frightening when you see how narrow it sometimes gets,” Evenepoel told Sporza.

The Belgian believes organisers should consider stronger crowd control from the foot of the climb, including ropes along the roadside and barriers during the final five kilometres.

“Sometimes the fans can influence a stage,” he said. “You might want to react to an attack, but you cannot move forward because you are blocked. We will see how extreme it becomes.”

Race leader Tadej Pogačar was similarly struck by the number of supporters who attended stage 14 at Le Markstein.

“I’ve never seen crowds like this,” Pogačar said earlier this week.

He expects Alpe d’Huez to attract an even larger turnout, particularly with the Tour visiting the mountain on successive days. “I think Alpe d’Huez can even overdo it. It can be even more,” he said.

Pogačar welcomed the prospect of racing through another wall of sound, but recognised the danger when spectators leave little room for riders and race vehicles.

“It’s going to be fantastic,” he said. “I hope nothing goes wrong.”

French prodigy Paul Seixas has even more reason to expect a feverish reception. The 19-year-old has become one of the revelations of the Tour and enters the decisive Alpine stages fighting for a place on the final podium.

“It’s going to be incredible, but most of all, I hope I don’t crash on the climb because I think there will be a lot of spectators,” Seixas told L'Equipe after stage 18.

“We’ve seen that it’s quite dangerous. I just hope everything goes well. After that, it’s my legs that will decide.”

The concerns are rooted in previous incidents. In 1999, Giuseppe Guerini was riding alone towards victory when a spectator stepped into the road to take a photograph around 700 metres from the finish. Guerini crashed, but quickly remounted and still won the stage.

Vincenzo Nibali was less fortunate in 2018. He crashed close to the summit after becoming entangled with a spectator’s camera strap. He completed the stage, but later withdrew from the Tour with a fractured vertebra.

Visma | Lease a Bike CEO Richard Plugge believes crowd behaviour is becoming one of the greatest threats facing the race.

“People suddenly jump in front of you,” Plugge told In de Leiderstrui on Thursday. “They have no idea what it means when you are driving. When they do that to a rider, it is life threatening.”

Plugge suggested introducing a small admission fee for spectators walking up the most popular mountains, arguing that it could reduce the number of people treating the event as a day of drinking rather than a bike race.

“I am holding my breath,” he said. “We have had several climbs in the last two or three years where I thought: is this going to end well?”