The Challenge(s)

Tour de Force 2013

So what have we actually got ourselves in for?! JK and myself will be taking on Tour Taster 8, which takes in stages 15 to 21 of the Tour.

Outside the full thing, this Tour Taster is definitely the most ambitious and provides a chance to ride one of the most exciting combinations of mountain stages that the Tour has put together for quite a few years. The Tour (for real) is very likely to be decided across these stages, with the course designed to keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the final mountain-top finish above Annecy. Whilst I would love to be able to do the whole thing again, this is definitely a good second choice.

In terms of what we can expect (and borrowing heavily from Phil’s fab write-up), we will be jumping right in at the deep-end. Whilst the first stage of our trip, stage 15, will begin with a flat run down the Rhone valley it is both the longest stage of the entire tour (at 242km) and ends with a pretty dramatic change in terrain! We will hit the bottom of one of the most iconic and feared climbs in the Tours history with 230 kms already in the legs! Mt Ventoux is a mountain that I have never climbed before.... this ascent will, hopefully, be the first of four in 2013 (details of the other three planned ascents is worthy of a separate post in the future).

Fla, flat, flat..... UP!

Mercifully, there is a rest day the next day.

For stage 16 we will head towards the high mountains for what should not be a too taxing stage in itself and (beyond a gentle pedal on the rest day) will hopefully be a useful stage to get the legs back into gear. I have cycled through this part of France before and the scenery in this part of Haute Provence, and the towns and villages we will pass through, is just superb. I suspect it will be a bumpy ride rather than entirely flat.

It seems that stage 17 has been called “hardest time trial course ever in the Tour”. The fact that it is a time trail and is only 32km is actually pretty good news - we will be able to have a bit of a later rise and will be able to ride the course at a sensible pace, admire the views over Lake Serre-Poncon, and enjoy a satisfying ride along a great route. It certainly won’t be a race against the clock.

Stage 18 is the start of a trilogy of mountain stages that is the main talking point of this year’s Tour (and is where Pt and Janice will be joining us for the rest of the way to Paris). From Gap we head straight into the Col de Mense climb (I have been over this climb before and a certain QuickStep Rick reenacted the infamous Beloki/Armstrong incident) before joining the first of two steady, long climbs: the first along the Route de Napoleon to Lake Sautet. Just before the town of La Mure we will begin the second climb, on a quieter road, up to the Col d’Ornon (again a climb that I have been over before, albeit in reverse. Having been over the ‘steady’ climbs we then have the legendary Alpe d’Huez crest…twice! This Alpe Double is quite an exceptional event and with the a dramatic descent on the tiny Col de Sarenne road (which hopefully has been paved a bit better since I last went down it) behind the Alpe, the last part of this ride is going to be pretty epic!



The Alpe x 2...... Epic!



Stage 19 is arguably the Queen Stage of the Tour, tackling the Glandon and the Madeleine from their hardest sides (I have been up the ‘easy’ side of both and they was sufficiently long and hard…); the shorter but steep Col d’Epine and finally the harsh Col de Croix-Fry, where it can be so hot in the afternoon, all make for a stage of truly epic proportions!

More mountains...

Stage 20 will complete the trilogy, and has been chosen for the Etape du Tour – as whilst it is short it provides its value in metres-vertical per kilometre-horizontal. The route, that includes a stunning climb through the Mont Revard massif, ends with what I am told is one of the best climbs in the area.

The final hurdle(s)...

We will then be transferred to Paris to meet up with Vicky, Nic and Caroline and for stage 21 and a ride that will take in Versailles and bring us to the Eiffel Tower late afternoon. Plenty of time to celebrate and get ready for the Bastille Day fireworks!! Paris on Bastille Day should be busyawesome!

Club des Cinglés du Mont-Ventoux
More details to follow......