After yesterday's epic Alpine stage, today was described by Tour Pro Phil Dekker as a "chance to recover after the mountains", but we are not sure if this is possible on a day that includes over 3,000 metres of climbing and 8 hours in the saddle..
Here is the profile of today's stage:
As you can see, we had a gentle first few hours (good for stretching the legs!) before climbing up to around 1,000m altitude, riding some lumps and bumps before a long chunky Cat 1 climb 35km before the finish.
The 10km climb around 65km in was a chance to test the climbing legs after yesterday. The bad news is that there seemed to be several of the group that were finding it hard going on this climb, and with over 100km to go there was a strong wish that things would turn around for them.
I rode the first 125km with Rick, Sam and Jake (or the 'sacrifical lamb' as he is now called after his ridiculous early pacing on that first climb). After lunch, it was just Rick, Sam & I tackling the day's biggest test, the Col de Noyer, an 18km climb up to 1,664m (nicknamed by us at the "Kronenbourg")
Ascending the Noyer
At the top
Once at the top (135km) we had 40km to go to our finishing destination in Gap, 35km of which were downhill.. The 5km "Col de Manse" was nothing too sinister, and all that was left on the descent into Gap was to look out for the famous "farmers field corner" that Lance Armstrong took in the 2003 Tour. Anyone that doesn't know it can see a VIDEO of it HERE
Once we got to the corner we had to stop and take a few pictures. Here are Sam and Rick showing you the moment in slow motion...
From there it was only 5km to the hotel, and despite the transfer this morning we were able to get to the hotel at 6.30pm, enough time for a quick massage before dinner!
Just a quick note to everyone that has asked about the spare part for my bike that i am still in need of.. having tried about 12 bike shops along the route with no success, i have got the part being brought over on Thursday night from England (by someone that is joining the tour). i will be back on my bike come Friday! In the meantime the Giant bike that i am riding is doing great, no aches or pains, and feels good on the hills
Total Cycling time: 8 hours 3 minutes
MAP of today's STAGE
With 10 stages now completed, we have 10 more to go.. just to reminder of the route and how far we have come. Rotterdam all the way down to GAP
No comments:
Post a Comment