Sarah Lidington - Etape du Tour 2007 - 16 July
The Etape du Tour is an annual cycle race where amateurs have a chance to ride a stage from the current year’s Tour de France a week before the professionals. This year, the stage on July 16th was the 200km from Foix to Loudenvielle in the French Pyrenees, incorporating 4800m of ascent. A dear friend and colleague of mine has been helped greatly by Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust so I decided I would use this event to raise some money for this worthy charity.
With all my supporters’ help I managed to raise £2564.10 and I rode 204km, however not exactly as planned! The following is a recount of how it went:
The start in Foix was at 7am; unfortunately for us this meant getting up at 4:45 and being transported with our bikes from Les Cabannes to a shopping centre a few km outside of Foix. We cycled into Foix as it was starting to get light and found our way into our appropriate starting pen. The countdown to the 7am start began and the 6500 riders crossed the start line over the next half an hour, eventually we were all on our way. I crossed the start line at 7:15 so I had time to make up to keep ahead of the “broom wagon” from the start!
The first climb (Col de Port – 1249m) was challenging but with fresh legs and cool air it was fine. After this, I made good time, passing the first elimination zone at St Giron with 45 minutes to spare. I caught the tail of a couple of large peletons and made good speed along the beautiful valley roads. As the morning progressed it started to get hot (mid 30s). This made the Col du Portet d’Aspet (1069m) and Col de Menté (1349m) tough and I had to stop every km or so to tip water over my head and cool down as both of these climbs were in the full sunshine. I stopped at the summit of the Menté to refill my water bottles and bumped into one of our crew resting in a bar, suffering from low blood pressure and had blue lips. He said he’d been feeling really ill and had drunk two Cognacs to make himself sick (which he had been) which didn’t sound the most sensible idea to me! Sadly he wasn’t well enough to continue so I bade him farewell. I had slowed down on the Menté because of the heat but I passed the second elimination zone with 10 minutes to spare, I remember thinking then that I had 4 and a half hours to do 60km… and that should be no problem!
On next to the Col du Port de Balès. The Col du Port de Balès is a beautiful climb over 20km, with its summit at 1755m. This is the first year that it has been opened up for the Tour de France (and the Etape du Tour) to ride and it had recently been surfaced at the top to allow this to happen. It starts off very gently for the first 10km, along the side of the river, through a few villages with the gradient around 3-5%. It had clouded over by this time so thankfully it was a little cooler. Every km or so, you pass a distance marker which tells you how far it is to the summit and what the average gradient of the next section is. First there was 3%, then 5%, then 7%, this was all fine even with 150+ km in my legs. Then it starts getting steeper the closer to the summit you get, more at 7%, then 8%, then 10%. These gradients are fine normally but with the heat, the distance, the climbing already done, gears not low enough (and not fit enough legs) I was finding it a struggle. There were dozens of people walking at this point either through tired legs, exhaustion or not low enough gears. I would ride a stretch and then walk a stretch, I was making progress, albeit slower than I’d like but I still had over an hour to get to the bottom of the mountain on the other side. I turned another hairpin bend and suddenly the gradient got steeper and there was the sign “Sommet à 4km”. I had to get off and push for a while but I could do it. I looked over my left shoulder to the stretch of road below and saw the “End of Race” cars. Oh no! Seeing the car with the clock on the top after riding 160km is like waking up and seeing the Grim Reaper. I was going to be out of the race! If I could have leapt onto my bike and pedalled away “à toute vitesse” I would have, but ahead of me was a 10% hill stretching as far as I could see and the legs were out of steam, and my gears were too high. I knew I could finish the distance, but if I had to walk any more stretches I couldn’t do it in the time limit. Reluctantly, I handed over the transponder to the woman in the car who told me I could return the 6km down the mountain and get on the bus to be transported to the end. Now I was in a dilemma, I felt deflated but I didn’t want to let my sponsors down, so I carried on further up the hill for another km or so but was making slow progress. I decided to turn round and see if I could arrange my minibus to pick me up at the village near the bottom of the mountain.
On my descent, I bumped into Jo who I had met on a previous trip, she was several km behind me so had also been eliminated. She claimed that she knew of a valley route to Loudenvielle so we could both take that and meet our respective parties at the end. This sounded a great idea. A few more km down the hill we came across the fleet (and I mean fleet!) of buses filled with forlorn riders, and a queue of Nobert Dentressangle lorries filling up with bikes. Jo decided that she wanted to go on the bus so I carried on alone. I tried to call my colleagues with the minibus but unsurprisingly the phone networks were overloaded and I couldn’t get through. I proceeded to retrace my steps to Mauléon Barousse where I spotted two men in a VW Caravenette, one in cycling gear and looking rather tired, and one rather exuberant German chap. I figured they would probably have a map so I could see how easy it would be to get to Loudenvielle. Luckily they did have a map, but there was no easy route to Loudenvielle so they helped me pick a suitable place that my minibus could meet me. Eventually I got through to Cathy from Marmot Tours. One minibus was nearly full with the fast boys that had already finished (plus the sick man with blue lips) and they could pick me up on their way back. We worked out that they could meet me at St Bertand Comminges where there were a few restaurants and cafes where I could bide my time and have some supper. Eventually, I reached St Bertrand after having ridden 204km! St Bertrand is a picturesque medieval village with a beautiful cathedral situated on the top of (what looked to me like) an ENORMOUS hill! So I decided I wasn’t hungry! I had water and an energy gel which would keep me going for a while, so I rested at the bus stop and chatted to a tired French cyclist who had ridden the Balès and Peyresourde and was on his way home. With my best pidgin French and his best pidgin English, we managed to get by. We were unanimous about the fact that the 199km Foix – Loudenvielle was a “route trés difficile”! Shortly after this the silver minibus arrived, I was so glad to see them.
Some facts:
Approx 6500 cyclists started at Foix
Approx 4300 finished (only 101 women)
The first rider home was Nicholas Fritsch in 6 hours 21
Several of my colleagues finished ahead of Greg Lemond!
A 34/25 lowest gear is not enough for my legs!
Some quotes from other riders (which made me feel better about not finishing):
“I have run ultra marathons before (Comrades Marathon 89km) and I reckon yesterday's Etape was harder.”
“This was my first etape and the first time I'd cycled in the French mountains. I knew it was going to be hard but it was much worse than I expected. I managed to finish but only just. Yes, it was hot. It was overcast for the first couple of climbs but then the sun came out for the climb of the Col de Mente and there wasn’t much respite from it after that. The fourth climb, Port de Bales, was a nightmare. A hot, steep 19km climb with melted, very sticky tarmac. I've never seen so much suffering in any sporting event I've ever done. Lots were walking, there were people crashed out at the side of the road in various states of consciousness, some were throwing up, others were in tears. It really was total carnage.”
“I managed to complete the day and my first Etape in 9 hours 50, around 2000 position. It was an incredible event, and I have never seen so much suffering on a bike; riders were collapsed under trees all the way up the Bales and Peyresourde, people were crying, being sick, falling off their bikes with sheer exhaustion. My polar registered top temperature of 38 degrees going up the Bales!”
“The biggest day I've ever had on a bike. Very tough, but amazing. The whole scale of the event, riding a stage that many of the greats, have ridden, (and will ride) was in itself awesome, but the atmosphere in all the villages, amazing support ( Allez, Allez!!!), incredible scenery and brilliant organisation made it a day to always remember.”