Tour de (mountains of) France

by Hilary Bloor

The Tour de France is a mammoth race, it’s an institution; it is larger than life, noisy, flashy and spectacular. It’s a 3 week circus which creates its own dramatic backdrops as it moves around the country. It was these mountain backdrops and superhuman athletes which inspired us to have a go and indulge ourselves in the suffering of the Tour.

So that was our challenge, not the whole tour, the 6 mountain stages in the same time scale as the tour, eg one stage per day. Three days in the Alps followed by three days in the Pyrenees. We planned to do this at the end of June, before the tour started. Planning done, now all we had to do was train like monsters and become superhuman with legs like Lance Armstrong! Easy or scary?

Difficulties - were the weather, our legs (of course), recovery, our bikes and not forgetting our bums

Snow, rain, storms, heat and humidity – all encountered by the riders.

Training - we invented lots of circuits with ‘killer hills’ around the Peak District and sometimes we ventured further a field in search of killer hills. I cycled my first real col in Tenerife in January (apparently Lance Armstrong used to train here – so at least l was on the right track if not the same speed!).

Team - Paul Reeve (rock climber and part owner of the Foundry), myself, Hilary Bloor (prefers running up and down hills with a compass) and Kerry and Rob (the multi-talented support crew who are also pretty good at rock climbing).

Shopping - after several visits to the cycle shop, l suddenly had a new Italian carbon bike and Paul had the most expensive (Swiss of course) cycle shorts on the market. But we still didn’t quite have Lance’s legs!

June arrived and we squeezed all our gear into the car and set off to the Alps before the enormity of the challenge began to sink in, especially to two novice bikers even with a new bike and Swiss shorts.

The days ranged from 165km - 218km, with masses of climb on each day and lots of other hazards to keep us on our toes. We predicted we would ride for 10hrs a day whereas the tour predicts riding for about 5hrs a day! Would we have time to recover after each day and do it all again?

Hilary and Paul set off full of optimism on with new bikes and shorts.

Bourg-en-Bresse - Le Grand Bornad - 197km – 24th June - Alps
The sting in the tail
Our Tour de France began on a beautiful morning from Bourg-en-Bresse, we got on our bikes checked our watches and off we went. No crowds, cheers or music just two cyclists having a private challenge!
We started with 25km downhill and everything felt easy. Then it just got better and better, views of the Chamonix mountains, Tour de France flags, bike sculptures, picturesque French villages; this was fun. However, the Col de la Colombiere, a long (16km at 6.7%) climb at the end of the day was the sting in the tail and l was dreaming of a triple (l had a compact). It nearly killed us both and l began to doubt if l could complete this challenge....! However, heavy rain and thunder followed overnight and we realised it was the heat and humidity that had caused us problems not just our legs.

A magnificent Tour de France sculpture.

Le Grand Bornad - Tignes - 165km – 25th June - Alps
The wet one
Luckily it had stopped in the morning and we flew over the first three climbs trying to get in the distance before it started again. As we climbed over the major climb of the day, Cormet de Roselend (19.9km at 6%), a beast and very high at 1985m, the rain began again. We were determined to get this one in the bag and we descended quickly down a real gem of a valley, tight turns and lots of crags made this a memorable journey down into a sunny Bourg St Maurice where we enjoyed a welcome stop with the support crew before tackling the last two climbs.

The real thing: Craft website.

As l crawled up the penultimate climb Montee de Hauteville (15.3km at 4.7%), a couple of carbon fibre bikes and guys dressed head to toe in blue CRAFT kit passed me, closely followed by their support car loaded with spare bikes - wow these were real Tour de France riders, they were the Astana Team (supported by Craft) and one of the favourites to win! Paul tried to chase them down the hill and got burnt off whereas l thought better of it. We finished in heavy rain at the top of Tignes (17.9km at 5.5%) ski resort and not the other village at the bottom of the mountain also named Tignes!

Hilary reaches Tignes village in the rain.

Val d’Isere - Briancon - 159km – 26th June - Alps
Freezing on the roof of the tour!
Over night, the temperature dropped significantly. Fresh snow had fallen on the tops and we were about to tackle the roof of the tour; the famous Col de I’Iseran at 2770m (15km at 6%)! It was a beautiful climb, heading up into the real mountains and into real mountain weather (hence rarely used for the tour). l biked over ice and through the snow line and as l crossed the top it started snowing and blowing a gale! I was freezing and shaking like mad as l rode down slower that l rode up. Every year the roads get mended in preparation for the tour and l also had to negotiate large patches of dug up road, on my new fancy Italian bike with tiny tyres - arrrgh! Our support car was following our route so we gratefully piled on some warmer clothes and drank hot tea.

Another two BIG climbs followed, the Col du Telegraphe (12km at 6.7%) followed by the Col du Galibier (17.5km at 6.9%) and at 2645m it certainly felt it!

Not much to see from the Col du Galibier!

Freezing weather at the top meant another shivering descent in arctic clothes this time to the finish and into Briancon...

A well earnt rest day followed and a long drive to the Pyrenees, the start of the next section, my legs were very tired… and l think Paul’s were too.

Mazamet - Plateau de Beille - 197km – 28th June - Pyrenees
Easy day – well it’s all relative!
The routine started again, up at 6am off at 7am with the support crew lying in until whenever and eating a leisurely breakfast. Meanwhile, we were cycling and eating on the go. Several patisseries stops later, fantastic scenery, gorges and rock tunnels and 129km under our belts we arrived at the first major climb feeling perky again.It was a day split in two halves and we were just about to start the second half.

Grazing horses in the Pyrenees.

The Pyrenees are so much more rural than the Alps. We passed herds of cows, horses, goats as we climbed to the top, and a real brute it was, even though the landscape was spectacular. Another hors category climb (the climbs are categorised from HC – 4 and HC is the hardest one) Port de Pailheres, (17kmk at 7.2%) under the belt.

The final climb up to a ski station Plateau-de-Beille (16km at 7.9%) was even harder after 180km it seemed to go on and on, and especially as Paul wanted a sprint finish a kilometer from the top! My legs felt like they would explode and we sat down not wanting to get up again whilst admiring the views from the top which (as the name suggests) were stunning. Dinner was a take-away pizza eaten in a supermarket car-park – happiness is so simple!

French a la carte!?!

Fiox - Loudenvielle - 197km – 29th June – Pyrenees
Big big climbs and croissants
This was the Etape du Tour day and there were mountains and cyclists everywhere (The Etape day is designated by the Tour de France for amateur bikers to ride). We had been warned that it was going to be very hard, with 5 classified climbs it certainly looked it. The first one was the easiest; a category two Col de Port (11.4km at 5.3%) and Paul had a race with a French guy who pipped him at the top! The descent was freezing once again and we shivered all the way down. A welcome break came half way down as we popped in to see a friend who lived 800m off the route. We left after eating all her chocolate croissants (and everything else she offered us).

The next two weren’t too bad (Col de Portet d’Aspet and the Col de Mente) with fantastic views to keep our minds off our legs. A pre arranged meeting place with the support crew at the foot of the fourth climb, the hardest of the day Port de Bales (19.2km at 6.2%) was a good move. The climb was one of the steepest on the tour up to 13% in places. After 3hrs of climbing our legs were beginning to feel it, and our bikes felt as if they were stuck in glue!

Then it started to get exciting, a former track had been newly made into a road especially for the cyclists making the descent one of the best and smoothest of the tour. Finally l reached the last climb; Col de Peyresourde (9.7km at 7.8%) at 19.30 and descended to the finish - knackered and still smiling after a slight hiccup finding the final town! Pizza and beer all round and we both fell asleep on the two hour drive to the start of the next day.

Orthez - Col d’Aubisque - 218km – 30th June – Pyrenees
Sun cream and loads of hills
This was the longest, hardest day in the mountains; l felt tired from the start and was dreaming of drugs (my sports drink just wasn’t strong enough). Five big classified climbs, including a visit to Spain and finishing on the longest climb of the day - Col d’Aubisque were on today’s menu. The day started easiest, and then the fun began. The first climb Port du Larrau (14.2km at 8%) being the hardest and brutally steep which descended less then it climbed. Added to this, the unfinished roads were covered in loads of gravel, it was so deep (up to 3") we both fell off! Meanwhile, the road kill lying on the road looked as though it wasn’t quite dead, and hadn’t quite been flatten by cars; made us feel sick… I arrived at the false summit preoccupied, changed into my big gear and forgot to change into an easier one for the rest! Arriving knackered, l had only done 80km, but felt somewhat better after re-fuelling at the support car! Meanwhile Paul had found someone else to chase up the mountain – l think he won this time.
The next two climbs were in Spain and seemed like a dream after the first one Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin (14km at 5.2%) and Col de Marie-Blanque (9.3km at 7.7%). It was early afternoon now and the temperature was soaring into the 30s but l was drinking lots, over 6 litres and was feeling OK. Nobody looked at our passports but I passed a couple of army guys with guns, I smiled and pedalled on. l had dismissed the penultimate climb as being easy but ever-increasing temperatures in a forested climb plus biting insects made it the hardest for me: Col de Marie-Blanque (9.3km at 7.7%).

Paul nears the finish – the sun still shining.

Only one to go and Paul who I hadn’t seen for most of the day was already nearing the finish in daylight. I was a bit behind, finally arriving at the top in the dark with the support crew following me in the car, flashers on and cheering me all the way! I had been on the bike for over 15hrs. I finally got off the bike for the last time with a BIG smile on my face, feeling very satisfied and babbling incoherently. I looked around at the fantastic scenery - jagged mountains lit up by the full moon, a perfect finish to an amazing trip.

An exhausted but ecstatic duo at the completion of their midsummer madness challenge!

Cold beers followed and we wished we could have camped on the col but tricky without camping gear. The next day we started our long, long drive back to Sheffield, via the surf beach (a chance for a second breakfast for the cyclists) and Fontainebleau (l think we were up to our third lunch)!

This was an enormous but inspiring and extremely memorable challenge where we saw some of the many hidden valleys and mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees. Thanks must go to the support crew, Kerry and Rob, without whom we couldn’t have indulged in our suffering!

Bikes – for those interested in them, Paul rode a Specialised with a triple and l rode a carbon Colnago with a compact. We both had Shimano Ultegra gear and l had comfy saddle, Paul had his shorts!

To see the official website of the Tour de France: click here

Thanks to Kerry Cooper for the photos and PlanetFear for publishing the article.