Supersuperleeds
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
L’Etape du Tour 2019 (it’s quite a long read sorry!)
Done...... only just!
Sunday was the day of reckoning but Tim, Rob, Will and myself- 2/3 of the self proclaimed “Saga CC” - had arrived in France on Thursday night, staying overnight at Saint-Quentin in what can only be described as the equivalent of Bates’ Motel.... it was basically a panic room with two small camp beds and a kettle and not much else! Was half expecting “mummy Bates” to come pay me a visit in the shower!
Thus, 6am on Friday couldn’t come quick enough and we made the long road trip down to Saint-Oyen where we were to be staying for the duration.
Once we’d arrived and got the bikes set up we ventured out for a short little adventure and a little spot of climbing winding up in a little village called Pussy (yes, we had a good giggle too!). Stopping at a little cafe at the top, Rob and I giggled at each other like schoolchildren coming up with all the village name laden puns, double entendres and innuendos! Two beers drank, we tootled back down the hill towards the digs, stopping off for a couple more beers before finding someplace to eat. After a spot of L’escargot and a half hundredweight of mussels we got back to the digs, completely done in by the travelling and excess food!
Saturday we got up, chucked the bikes on the car roof and set out for another picturesque little drive up to Col de la Madeleine and taking in the breathtaking views at 2,000m before dropping back down the other side, pulling up at the base of Lacets de Montvernier, a stunning looking 2 mile climb with 17 switchbacks!
A quick drink at the top and we made our descent back to the car and headed to Albertville, to take advantage of all the goodies on offer at the event village as well as the free massage in the Rapha tent...
Knowing we had an early start in the morning that was pretty much all she wrote for that day as we needed to get back to prepare for the main event......
And so, we get to Sunday. The day of reckoning. Setting off at 6am, we rolled the 15 miles into Albertville to the start of L’Etape. Originally I was set to start in pen 15- the last pen- almost an hour behind the lads but a clever bit of jiggery pokery enabled Tim and I to grab an earlier pen and for us all to leave together from pen 7. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as there would have been no way I could have made the cut off times had I left in my original start pen. We set off at 07:52 on our journey into the unknown.....
As our abilities differ, we made an agreement to meet up at the feed stops to check in with each other and make sure we were all good. As it turned out, the first 20km to Beaufort feed stop was quite steady and we largely stuck together.
After a water top up and a bit of food it was time for the first major climb- the Cormet de Roselund. The sun not yet being fully out and lots of shaded bits enabled me to ascend this 12 mile climb in one hit, though we had all become separated on the way up. 1 3/4 hours later, I reached the top at an altitude of 1960m feeling pretty good at this stage. Checked in with the lads as we negotiated the free-for-all that was the feed stop!
Next was a long descent down to the following feed stop, the many switchbacks making it a good challenge and the straighter bits allowed me to hit a top speed of around 55mph.
At the next feed stop I got a puncture and so got the on-site mechanics to sort that out while I filled my face. Setting off again, it was a little climb and then a straight bit for a few miles until we got to the next climb of the day- the shorter but more brutal Col de Longefoy. The sun was by now at full tilt and this made for a difficult climbing session. I’d long lost the others due to my puncture so I settled in and did my thing, getting to the top in around 40 mins or so. A nice descent followed again with some challenging switchbacks but the road surface wasn’t the best so I had to exercise a little more caution than previously. We had to join the closed dual carriageway section into Moutiers where the next feed stop was, but this was downhill into a warm headwind and was surprisingly harder work than I imagined!
Had a little stop at Moutiers which was more farcical than any of the other feed stations with more pushing and shoving than the London Underground in rush hour and just seemed in total disarray. I set off reasonably quickly after arriving and stuck with Tim and Rob as we began the last monster climb of the day.
Val Thorens.
33km of sheer hell. Yes, 33km! Almost 21 MILES! It had just gone 2pm when we started, 62 miles in and as we began the climb, Rob observed the temperature on his Garmin to be 41.4 degrees Celsius! and what is more, there was very minimal shade as we made the long ascent up the damn thing. The intense heat really began to take its toll, Will decided enough was enough about 1/4 of the way up which, though disappointing, ended up being a blessing for reasons I shall explain later. Tim and I were still sort of neck and neck (Rob had long gone) and the cramp and sheer heat exhaustion began to kick in. Three times we debated turning round but somehow we batted on! Suffice to say we were not able to do the climb in one piece and we had to stop regularly to top bottles up, seek shade and stretch out before having another go.
Tim and I became separated and I got ahead of him somehow and never saw him again til the top. It was just carnage- everywhere you looked there were bodies strewn in any patch of shade they could find, quite a few puking up and/or passed out. Ambulances were up and down tending to those just physically done in by the heat. The heat was such that any opportunity to stop for water at local fountains and to be hosed down by locals was not to be passed up. The coldness of the water as opposed to the warm electrolyte I was drinking was just bliss! This occurred quite often on the way up, and I certainly wasn’t complaining!
Eventually I made the last feed station with just under 10 miles to go and I was just contemplating calling it a day when I saw I was 20 mins ahead of the cut off time so I made the (foolish) decision to push on to the top.
“I’ve come so far”
“Push, push, push!”
These were the words I was telling myself as I made a bid for glory. The cramp was really kicking in by now and I was churning out a km or two at a time, stopping for a minute, rinsing and repeating. As I got within 5km to go, I was checking in with the others to let them know I was aiming for the top and the stops became more frequent as the pain became intense. At this stage a friend of mine messaged me some words of encouragement which just gave me the mental edge I so badly needed at that point.
Eventually arriving at Val Thorens, battered and exhausted, and just mustering what energy I had left to do the last 500m summit finish I crossed the line around 1900 ish, with an official time of 10:55:25.
Met up with Rob at the Rapha tent where we downed a couple of well earned beers, collected our bags from the drop off point and ate some food while we waited for Tim to cross the line, some half hour after myself. By now the sun was starting to set beneath the peaks and it was getting cold in the shade. Faced with the prospect of a 25 mile ride back down to the digs, totally exhausted and potentially freezing, Will messaged us to say he’d got the car and was parked up just outside town. At that point I could have kissed the b4st4rd! I knew there was a blessing to his turning round so far up!
To summarise- 83.7 miles (134.7km) over 15,000 ft of climbing, 7716 calories burnt, over 20 litres of water consumed (somehow still not enough) but made it over the line.
This was singlehandedly the most difficult ride I’ve ever done- bar none. And never again will I attempt anything so stupid!
Thanks for all the support, the messages and strava kudos. It was very much appreciated! Apologies for the long winded report but I hope you enjoyed it.
**edit** A little perspective here- my time up Val Thorens was around 4 1/4 hours. The overall winner did the lot in 4 3/4!!
https://strava.app.link/eisZnNlryY
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Just absolutely awesome Chris.
