Several Tour de France teams nearly failed to arrive in time for the race's 20th stage today after getting stuck in traffic.

Riders were left furious when traffic jams delayed their journey from l'Alpe d'Huez, where the 19th stage finished on Friday, to Grenoble. Almost a million spectators took to the roads to leave the 19th stage this morning, hindering the riders' own chances of reaching the destination.

French rider Anthony Roux was due to start racing at 12.38pm but didn't get to Grenoble until 12.15pm and was forced to shorten his warm up.

Lionel Marie, team Garmin-Cervelo's sports director, told Reuters: “We were all stuck. It was an indescribable mess. Finally the police came and helped us to drive on the left lane. Otherwise we could not have made it.”

The traffic jams were the latest in a long line of complaints from riders who feel that the post-stage transfers to hotels are too long.