The Queen Stage of the 2023 Tour. Stage 17 traversed the high alps, enroute to the iconic Courchevel. Often a mountain stage finishes at the base of a ski resort (Alpe D’Huez is a great example), but this stage was finishing roughly 1000m above the town. A high altitude airport was the Tour’s destination.

The logistics for this stage were difficult and made it so only two photo spots were possible without gambling on missing the finish entirely. All press vehicles needed to travel on the lower slopes of the behemoth Col de la Loze for about 15km with a time cutoff roughly 2 hours before the race arrived. This forced an early trip up the mountain with one stop shooting as they came through the Courchevel base village and another at the finish line.

This was my first road stage at the Tour de France, so I didn’t really know what to expect at the finish. I got stuck on the photo row, quite further back than I would’ve liked. Note to self, bring the longer lens just in case. Even so, the finish photo of Felix Gall worked out pretty well. I would’ve like more of the mountains in the background, but you take what you get.

In the future, I would probably skip the finish on a mountain stage. It would probably make more sense to shoot an early climb and find a scenic/decisive spot on the final climb. Oh well, it is all part of learning.

One final topic: the evacuation off the mountain following the stage was a complete and utter shitshow. 2 hours to go maybe 10km with Google Maps routing everyone through these 3/4 lane mountain roads that never saw more than 10 cars in a day. Yet another reason to skip the finish.

Distance driven: 327 km

Photos taken: 1297

Pain au Chocolat consumed: 2 – still bad hotel versions

Salle Presse drinks consumed: 4 – Orangina ftw.

Next Up: Le Tour Stage 18