Today we got the first real sniff of the mountains. After 40km of relative flat, the fun began with the route going up and down a succession of ridges in the Jura Massif, before hitting our first two big climbs towards the end of the stage.
The first of these was the Category 2 ‘Col de la Croix de la Serra’ which was immediately followed by another Cat 2, the ‘Cote de Lamoura’ which took us up the mountain top finish of the Tour route. We, as we like our extra kms, had a further 16kms in addition to this to get us to our hotel and after what was a glorious day it absolutely hammered it down for the final burst home. The rain actually stung as it hit you – guess that is the nature of the weather once you hit the mountains.
Along the way we stopped in a small town with a fountain for one of our snack stops. Upon parking up our bikes, everyone just stood in the fountain thigh deep in cold water to help with the muscles – right in the middle of the town square. We got some rather quizzical looks from the locals and one old couple came out with a photo of them and Lance Armstrong, who had been in the village two days previously doing a bit of a reccie on the route. Nice photo below.
Roly got himself on some codeine today (which a worryingly large number of people are happily popping). It seemed to really help with the pain and he perked up a lot. Good to see him back on form.
Best story of the day is that Williams was cycling up the last climb when he passed a French guy holding a bottle of water when he felt some water splash on him. Pretty affronted Williams slows, turns to the guy gives him a look at a few choice words at which point the French dude looks pretty confused and makes off pretty quickly. Williams then proceeds to pedal a further 50m up the road before he realises it had started to rain... he will be riding with the tassels tomorrow.
TGS jerseys were out today.
There also seems to be a worrying trend amongst the peloton. Grown men are shaving their legs.... I know it helps with massages, but c’mon guys have a bit of self respect!
Love cycling in the mountains; working hard to climb and then flying down the other side with fab scenery all around – doesn’t get a whole lot better! The Tour proper has started...
S
Distance: 181.1km
Av Speed: 22.6km/h
Total Ascent: 3325m
Av HR: 137bpm
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