L'Etape du Tour 2008- Part 2

Race report – By Jerard
After about 30 Kms, the packs started to thin out and I decided to push it a bit. A strong French boy who looked like a tri-athlete from the way he was riding came flying past me. I jumped on his wheel and stayed there for another 20 Kms, we lapped a lot of riders then. We were going at 40-45Kms/h.We got to Lourdes and the streets were lined up by cheering locals like in the proper tour. People of all ages were there under the rain encouraging riders with bells and calls of “Allez”. It was a great atmosphere and it makes you feel part of an important and special event. I didn't stop at the first feeding station there as I was feeling fine and had not touched my GU's and power bars yet.The course was undulating with hills of 4 to 5% gradients. I was feeling strong and my french domestique was spent and I went past him. I powered up the 2 small “blips” before the Tourmalet. In fact these are harder than what the picture below might suggest, I'd say like Kalamunda road.

A lot of riders started dropping off at this stage. Short descents with tight corners followed but it wasn't raining much and you could see the beautiful country side then, it was awesome!.I eased off a bit as I knew what was coming..... THE Tourmalet.
The giant mountain of the Pyrenees was hidden under the clouds and nothing can prepare you for what was about to come!



The ascent of the Tourmalet is 23 Kms long. It starts gently at a gradient between 2-5 percent for the first 11 Kms. I stayed in a strong bunch of riders and did not do any work at the front. My heart rate was sitting at a healthy 140-145 bpm. I knew it will be harder later and wanted to pace myself.

Unfortunately for Todd he got pulled out of the race because he didn't make the cut off time at the base of Tourmalet. His starting number was in the 8000's so he had a handicap to start with. That's why all these riders with higher numbers were racing past me at the beginning to avoid being stopped, I thought they were inexperienced and stupid! At 12 Kms from the village of Campan, things started to get serious. Let me mention it here that in cycling mad France, there are signs on the side of the road on all mountains telling you how long you have to go to the top as well as the gradient for the next kilometer.

The gradient picked up to 7 %, I was feeling OK, so far so good. Then it went up. From then on it was pure torture and agony! Unrelenting ascent which reads 8-8-8-10-9-10-9-9-9-9-9-8.5%

I have not experienced anything like it before. I have done the Mont Ventoux last year but it was all we did that day. This is an absolutely horrible climb after having been on the saddle for 100 Kms.

I kept my legs turning and maintained my heart rate around 160bpm, I did not want to blow up now because I knew that Hautacam was waiting for us at the end. It was cold and misty but there were loads of people on the side of the road cheering you on. Let me tell you this makes a HUGE difference to your morale and makes you ride through the pain. The majority of the riders were local boys and their friends and families were there urging them on. You could tell they've done their” Welshpool Road “ before.

Just when you thought you have covered few kilometers, you get that sinking feeling when the next sign shows you've only covered one and that the next km has a friendly 9% gradient. I had gone through 3-4 GU's by then as well as a power bar. Half way up the mountain and I started to feel it! My legs started to go although my heart rate was around 150.

What the hell am I doing here? A long flight from Perth, a tiring drive through the Pyrenees two days earlier to climb a stupid mountain in the middle of the rain!

I tried to shake off negative thoughts and kept my focus on the road 10 m away. I decided to stop looking at the signs!

Later I learned that Schneiderman had another unlucky puncture half way up the Tourmalet. He could not get his pump to inflate his tire properly and asked the Mavic support van for assistance. He had to wait for his turn to come and lost a bit of time doing that. They changed his tube, sorted his tire and got him up and going again.

I then reached La Mongie which is a skiing station 4 Kms from the top. The road widens here and there was the second feeding station there. A lot of riders were filling up on food and drink. I thought about stopping to eat, but then I decided to save time as I still had a power bar and few GU's in my back pocket. Mark did stop, had a sandwich / banana/ fruit gel and filled up on energy drink and water.Closer to the top, the smell of cows filled the air and the road was covered with their droppings! Beautiful, what more can you ask for.I was feeling spent then and it took an old woman on the side of the road to prevent me from stopping with “ Allez courage monsieur, juste 2 kilometres du col” ( Keep going, 2 kilometers to go)I don't know how but I finally reached the top and felt exhausted. Nature called and it was the best feeling to do it at 2115 m altitude although you couldn't see a thing below, the valley was covered with clouds . A lot of riders had stopped to have a rest. I ate my power bar, managed to get some water from the firemen there and filled my drink bottles because one of them was empty( I was using Cytomax, the energy drink I imported “legally” from the US and highly recommended by Mark DeCastro, it's good stuff), put my wind jacket and started the descent of the Tourmalet.If the climb was excruciating, the descent was terrifying. The road was slippery, it was freezing cold and you couldn't see a thing ahead. Those of us who did Ventoux last year know what I mean, only that it was longer, much longer! Your brakes become useless and your fingers ache so much that you have to release frequently to get some circulation through again. Will I see my kids again? I kept thinking in case I crash here as there were no road barriers, nothing between you and the bottom of the valley! Having said that, there were the local French riders flying past “a la DeCastro”, they obviously knew the road and what lies around the corner.


After the steep section, the gradient eases off a bit and the road is a bit wider. That part was the best bit as it had stopped raining and we were in the valley between Tourmalet and Hautacam. The scenery was breath taking and I felt like riding again. I took off my wind jacket and hammered it even though it was windy. I jumped from one passing train to the other and was doing over 40 km/h. I did brief stints at the front to catch the faster bunch ahead. I was loving it, Hautacam here I come.
The bottom of the climb is not too steep, between 2 and 5%. There was a group of 6 children doing the Mexican wave and an “Allez” with every passing rider.Then you take a right turn and it picks up suddenly to an 8% climb for 2 Kms. I had another GU and thought that's it, only 15Kms to go. The gradient eased again and it was hard to get a rhythm going. Then came a left hand turn and holy Moses! If I thought the Tourmalet was tough, this was hell. The gradient remained between 8 and 10 % for 10 Kms and I had nothing left. Soon after I hit the wall, it was awful. Not stopping at the food station at the Tourmalet proved to be a very bad and stupid decision. If the professional riders need to eat then who am I, a part time social rider from South Perth Rouleurs, to ride 170 Kms without eating. What an idiot.No amount of GU could help here and I decided to do what a lot of riders were doing, stop. I stopped for a minute then took off again. 2 Kms later, I had to stop again. You could see the pain and agony on all riders faces, some had decided to walk up. A woman had stopped and started crying, not wanting to go on. The locals got her back on, gave her some water and pushed her up the hill. There were also the 60 year old men grinding it up, they must live down the road and do the Hautacam on a Sunday morning before church.. 4 Kms from the top there was a van selling drinks and I thought I was dreaming . Am I suffering from altitude sickness? I gave the guy a 50 euros note but he said he didn't have change! I was happy to pay 50 euros for a can of coke then but he decided not to charge me for it, I must have looked really bad, A can of Coke never tasted so good.
I felt refreshed and took off with a renewed zest. I lapped few riders and finally saw the finish line in the mist on top of Hautacam. After over 7 hours on the saddle, I was about to finish the longest, the hardest and the best ride I have ever done. to As I crossed, I was handed my medal it was 14:45. I stared at 07:10 ( 7h35min total time). I wanted to do it in around 7 hours but I didn't care. Rather than a sense of achievement, I felt relieved the ordeal was over. My computer read over 6000 calories used and I thought GU should be enough to take me up Hautacam!It was freezing cold and the top was packed with riders waiting to go down as they let you descend at intervals of few seconds to avoid the congestion on the road.Had a drink, put my wind jacket and long gloves on and went down. You descend the same way as you go up, so you could see the procession of exhausted riders going up. I kept looking out for Mark and Le Kuan but didn't see them, I hope they're OK I thought.
Back in the organizers van, I was told that Melvyn had a crash and was taken to the hospital but he was fine and back at the hotel ( see Part I). I was really worried and sent him an sms but got no reply. His bag and phone were still in the van. I felt sorry for him to have come all the way from Perth to miss out on the climbs. Maybe next time.I was given a hot drink and swallowed 2 sandwiches. We were driven back to the hotel with Todd and Linley and the other riders who were pulled off. The van would later make 2 more trips to bring back the rest as they come down Hautacam.I later caught up with Le Kuan at the hotel. He was very disappointed and upset with himself. I told him how painful it was to try and ease his pain. Schneiderman came later: he looked shattered but was happy he finished given how unlucky he was with two punctures.


We slept very well that night and had a big breakfast in the morning. Washed and packed the bikes and drove back to Barcelona, this time we took the highway through Tououse – Perpignan and down to Barcelona to save time. We talked about L'etape all the way back to Spain. If we nearly died doing one stage, how can these guys do it for 3 weeks! It's incredible and gives you a perspective of what they go through. Maybe a bit of EPO is not a bad idea after all.
The French love the sport and seeing people of all ages lining the roads under the rain to cheer amateurs was unbelievable. It's a different culture here and I can never imagine seeing that in Australia. Maybe I should retire here. I also realized that it's not about the bike. To see old men riding up these mountains on old bikes makes me realize it's about the sport, your fitness and determination. I won't be wasting any money to save few grams anymore.It was an amazing experience and I highly recommend it. Will we do it again? I thought it was a crazy thing to do on top of Hautacam. Now I'm not so sure. It's interesting how quickly you forget the pain. Maybe I'll do it with Le Kuan one day as he missed out on this one. But next time, Le Kuan has to use his head on the descents, Mark will have to ride with different wheels and tires, and I have to remember to feed my brain.