Some tips to help you survive the Etape du Tour]



The Etape Tips: Mike's Special On-Location Report

General Comments

  • I rode the last 60-65km from Sault/Bedoin/Mt. Ventoux twice -- on Saturday and Sunday, June 20th - 21st, 2009;

  • The entire route I recce'd was smooth and well-maintained -- ideal roads for cycling;

  • Wind from the North (the Mistral) was brutal and should not be underestimated in your mental prep for the day. On Saturday, the winds were well above 100 km/h. While this was described as "above average", it is not unusual to get an above average day. Although the Mistral was reported as moyenne (medium) on Sunday, it was still blowing at a good 50 km/h;

  • My cyclo-computer is broken, so the metrics I reference in this note are estimates

Sault and the Col de Notre Dame des Abeilles (996m)

The route descends out of Sault. The only technical part of this leg is a sharp hairpin turn as you leave Sault. It is signed in advance so hopefully won't cause much trouble. Although the climb to Col de N.D. is 8km long, there are only two "tough" sections.

The first is the first 2km of the climb, with a grade of 8%-ish. The second is at the end of the climb to the Col. There are two false summits before you actually reach the Col. This can be psychologically taxing, if you were expecting the end of the work to arrive sooner. Physically, it's only about 1km of climbing between the 1st and 2nd summit and about 500m of climbing between the 2nd and 3rd.

Descent from the Col de Notre Dame des Abeilles to Villes sur Auzon

There is nothing technical to this fantastic 12km descent. This is a wide, two lane road with beautiful views looking out over Provence. Hopefully the field will have spread out enough at this point to allow us to let the wheels roll. Given the gusty wind on Saturday, I tapped the brakes frequently to control my speed. On Sunday I barely touched them and enjoyed my most memorable descent yet on a bike.

Incidentally, about 1/3 of the way into the descent, you turn a corner onto a long straight steep with a panoramic view across Provence. As Bowie put it, I felt like I was "...floating in the most pe-cu-li-ar way..." Let me know if the same feeling overtakes you in July and savor the descent before the hard work that awaits.

The Road to Mont Ventoux

The descent from Col de N.D. takes you into Villes sur Auzon then a few km West to the turn onto the D14 toward Mormoiron. The hard work to get to Ventoux really begins when you turn onto the D14 heading to Mormoiron (at this point you are 7km from Bedoin). The 1km to Mormoiron is a gradual climb, the remaining 6km is more or less flat. However, the D14 runs due North, meaning straight into the Mistral. I found this to be the least enjoyable stretch of the ride, basically a means to getting to Bedoin. Probably a good time to eat, drink and self-diagnose before Bedoin.

From Bedoin, the climb to Ventoux is pretty much as advertised. The forest is nothing flashy but wins by wearing you down with an unrelenting climb at a consistently steep gradient for 12 km. After my body settled into the grind, it became almost calming - the forest is quiet, sheltered from the wind and sun. Chalet Reynard is an oasis, and once you reach it you can begin to taste victory.

Upon leaving Chalet Renard, you will start to think life is good, given the gradient flattens out a bit. Just wait, however, until you turn the first corner, and the wind hits you like an air bag. As mentioned above, Saturday was exceptionally windy, to the point that cyclists were getting blown into the rocks on the side of the road, and there were more people walking than riding their bikes over the final 3km. I managed to stay upright and on my bike, but had to fight the wind the whole way. It was both physically and emotionally exhausting. I dread muscling through the same conditions after a full day on the bike on July 20th. I have never experienced such miserable wind, and that's coming from a guy who lived the past 7 years in the UK. Sunday, however, was a different story. The "moyenne Mistral" was actually bearable - although still required constant attention to keep the bike on the road.

One last comment...while Ventoux lacks the helpful signs noting the distance and gradient to the summit you find on the Tourmalet and Hautacam, there are distance markers painted on the right side of the road every kilometer. If you want to know how much longer the pain will last as you make the climb, remember that the top of Ventoux is about 500m past the mark ending in xx13. Chalet Reynard is 500m past the mark ending in xx07.

All in all, an epic ride that I look forward to doing again in a few weeks time. One final thought to leave you with:

“All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one... characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers.”

                                                                                                 Henry David Thoreau 








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