Epic! The climbs; the descents; the scenery. Totally epic!
Had a fantastic day in the mountains today, just totally brilliant. Today was a massive Alpine stage, taking in four big climbs including or first Hors Categorie! Definitely one of the hardest days of the entire Tour and our hardest day before the Pyrenees (my stats verify this...).
We set off from Morzine at the slightly earlier time of 7am today in anticipation of a long day. In fact, around seven of the more ‘relaxed’ riders in our group set off 45mins earlier than the rest in order to allow them even more time.
After a few bumps and a descent from Morzine we started our first climb, the Col de la Colombiere, a pretty tough Cat 1 with a kicker at the end of the climb. Once over this we shot down into the valley before shooting straight up the Col des Aravis, a relatively straight forward Cat 2.
After a short break just out Flumet I headed out up Col des Saisies the second Cat 1 of the day. Like the Aravis, it was a climb I already knew and I spent a lot of the way up chatting with a 60 year Dutch guy who was out on a trip training for the Marmot at the weekend. Generally any cyclists we have encountered have been very chatty and keen to cycle with us for a while.
After an awesome descent from the Saisies and a blast across the valley into a headwind we hit the base of the Giant of the day. The Col de la Madeline went on for 24km and took us up to 2000m. A heck of a lot of climbing. It was a long slog, but great to ride... had a blast! After so much climbing though a lot of people really struggled and it really spread out the group...
Roly put in an awesome show today, his first proper day in the Alps. He loved it and was totally back on form. His knee pain was manageable, and he stormed round. We rolled in together at 7pm, shortly followed by Davinia, although he had been cycling for a little less time.
Some people didn’t roll in until 9.30pm and looked totally vacant. Incoherent. Everyone is sleeping now...
Photos of all the Col signage below.
We have a 5.45am rise tomorrow. Eek!
S
Distance: 209.9km
Av Speed: 21km/h
Total Ascent: 4662m
Av HR: 139bpm
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