Tour de France Stage 15 (Pyrenees still!)

Second day in the Pyrenees done!

Another very long day, over 8.5 hours of cycling, and some big mountains once again. Unlike yesterday, we had a few lumps and bumps to contend with in the early part of the day. Here is the stage profile



This morning's weather was miserable.. i had 3 layers & shoe covers on for the first few hours. When it rains like that you just have to put your head down and get on with it. Despite riding in large groups between the early feed stops, the conversation was light. I had my second puncture of the tour today, not bad for nearly 3,000km. The good news was that after 3 hours of cycling, and as we approached the first significant climb of the day, the sun came out, and temperatures quickly got into the mid 20s.

Before setting off



Morning rain at the feed stop



There were several interesting features of Stage 15. Firstly, we passed through the village of Carla Bayle, home to a community of 'free thinkers', a town that is twinned with Rotterdam (the starting location)



We also cycled through the "Grotto" de Mas D'Azil - something i have never done before! quite bizarre..



We then cycled up the Col de Portet d'Aspet, a climb that has become very famous in the race as being the last location of a death in the race. In 1995 the 25yr old Italian rider Fabio Casartelli crashed on the descent (which is very steep) and died on his way to hospital. A 'pre-cancer' Lance Armstrong was a team mate of his and marked an incredibly emotional win a few days after his death with this victory salute on the run in to Limoges

Lance dedicates victory to Fabio

This is the Casartelli Memorial just after a picture of me at the top of the climb





From there we ascended the next 2nd category climb of the day, the Col des Ares, quite a nice climb with no sections over 6%. From there it was a descent, then flat run over to the base of the big mountain of the day, the Port de Bales, a "beyond classification" climb which starts around 40km from the finish. What an incredible ascent.. i rode with Bev, Ed and Chris, saving the legs for tomorrow and taking some awesome pictures on the way up this 19km climb.

Ed before the climb - do you think he looks ready and willing??








From the top it was a lovely drop into Luchon and to our very nice hotel for the evening. Time for a quick bath before a later 8.30pm dinner. Some tired people this evening!