The Tour features some serious climbing and news from Meribel

The Tour de France rolls out of Gap in a couple of hours time for a stage which involves climbing and not surprisingly some tricky downhill sections as well. The town of Gap is the capital of the Hautes-Alpes and is located on the Napoleonic route that goes from Golfe-Juan to Grenoble. The history of the town is certainly rich, a commemorative plaque on the rue de France marks the place where in 1815  Napoleon stopped on his return from the Island of Elba. In 1692 the town was set alight and destroyed by the Duke of Savoy's troops. Today things are a bit quieter, Gap is the business Capital of Alpes de Sud and is home to "The Domaine de Charance" a large garden where you can admire a collection of over 1,000 varieties of roses.

No time for the Tour riders to stop and smell the roses today as they have to climb Alpe d'Huez not once but twice. As with many routes where the Tour has passed before the road is painted with the names of many great cyclists who have gone before them. The climb of Alpe d'Huez is notorious and has been the scene of many decisive battles in Tour history. The addition of the extra climb and a potentially dangerous descent is making this stage much talked about and no doubt there will be a few blurry eyes turning up for work in Sydney tomorrow morning.

As the Tour rumbles on Summer is well and truly underway in Meribel with a huge range of activities on offer some more relaxing than others! The Tourism office publishes a 2 week program which is available in English as well as French and is available through their web site: www.meribel.net

The sun is shining in Meribel so why not consider seeing for yourself how beautiful the mountains are even without their snowy coats on