Hotel that sheltered Vuelta peloton in severe weather flooded with reviews: 'Man in red knocked on my door'

Cycling is a sport littered with unusual stories. On Monday, the Vuelta a España added a new one to the mix. Due to severe weather, the riders themselves called off the third stage. All of a sudden, an unsuspecting road-side hotel was awash with freezing cold and soaking wet bike riders. The hotel in question was subsequently flooded with positive reviews.

It was quite remarkable, after all, that the finish of the third stage of the Vuelta turned out that way. Beforehand, no one had actually mentioned rain, let alone such a violent storm that would cause the peloton to call off the race. But rain it did. On the final climb, the heavens opened, resulting in apocalyptic scenes.

At first, Wout van Aert had to take shelter in a van, but the Belgian ended up at a hotel a short time later. As it turned out, that’s where he found the rest of the peloton, which had spontaneously gathered at the GESA Village Club Mont Louis Les Sorbiers. The hotel suddenly had to welcome an entire peloton, which it did with great enthusiasm.

It sparked a flood of positive reviews. For example, Uno-X rider Tobias Halland Johannessen wrote: “Perfect location during hailstorms, and they even delivered towels within two minutes after 180 cyclists arrived unannounced. They deserve every star they can get!” The Norwegian left a 5-star review.

Picnic PostNL did the same. “A warm and friendly welcome from the staff. It’s also a nice place to take shelter from bad weather in the area,” the Dutch team added.

More riders from the peloton crossed the finish line. Julien Bernard of Lidl-Trek said, “What a warm welcome! Thank you so much!” William Barta of Tudor, in turn, commented, “Incredibly friendly and helpful staff!” All of this came with a 5-star review.

Tudor rider Roland Thalmann gave it 4 stars, but judging by his comment, that might have been a mistake. “Definitely the friendliest hotel I’ve ever seen. Well-organized, and they were even able to provide free towels, drinks, and food to nearly 200 impromptu guests,” wrote the Swiss cyclist.

In addition to cyclists, cycling fans also shared their thoughts in the reviews. “The lobby was a bit crowded, and a man, dressed entirely in red, knocked on my door and asked for an extra towel in exchange for his sunglasses. Unexpected, but still a good trade in my opinion,” wrote one humorous fan, for example.

There were also reviews like: “A really nice place to stay. I even saw Tadej Pogacar. 5/5, highly recommended” and “I was sitting in the lobby when an older man—I think from the Balkans—came up to me in a wet cycling outfit and said, ‘Worse weather than during ski jumping, huh?’” The hotel now has nearly 1,000 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9 stars.