Post Tour.....

So back in Chamonix after an epic week over in Bour D'oisans with the Ridestrongbiketours.com crew and after some horrendous weather in the Alps the last few weeks (50cm of snow on the Galibier the day before the Tour got there!) its no surprise that I've been laid up with a cold this week. Not full blown man flu luckily.

So back to the Tour! Ride of the week has to be from Serre Chevalier over Montegenevre and then down into Italy and up to Sestrierre. With fresh snow above 2200M, the back drop for the day and the TdF stage was amazing and we had a great view just below the summit at Sestrierre.

Stage of the week has to be Alpe D'Huez. We set off early with the threat of an 11.00am road closure and headed up the ADH. Bourg D'Oisans and ADH are a bit like the Isle of Man at TT week only without the leathers. There's the posers in full team kit team bikes, the once a year cyclists with a few bob in their pocket, decked out in Assos, overweight and then there's the old timers, on steel frames and toe clips.............then there's the Dutch! We reached Dutch corner at around 10 and the party was already in full swing with some weird deckchair dance going on to a tune that translates as They have their own radio station set up, plus bar, food, seating and its clear they'd been partying all night!  We opted to stop at Bend 1 (2.2km from the finish) and after climbing the banking we had an amazing view 3km down the valley. Being their early we eventually were invaded by the Vikings (again) with half of Norway joining us.  I think the Norwegians gave the Dutch a run for their money at this years Tour complete with the Norwegian equivalent of Borat in his Norwegianmankenneee.

We had Rolland attack Sanchez and Contador right in front of us to go on and take the stage win, and also Cadel making a move on the Frandy Schlecks.

Saturday turned into another rainy day on the Galibier. 4 times this year and twice its been throwing it down (bit like the IoM at TT week again) however I was well impressed being only a few minutes slower than my Etape time. Garmined up, its surprising to see the actual gradient. I'd have never said that the drag up to Plan Lachat was 8% average - I thought it was nearer 5 or 6. And then the last KM to the summit ranging from 14% to 5%.

Thanks to Julie at Ridestrongbiketours.com and also to Rob for the best decision of the week to sit at bend 1 ADH!

Back to reality....with the Marmotte and the Etape over need to find a big bag of motivation and a goal for the end of the season!

Etape du Tour Monday 11th July

So we're back in the Maurienne Valley for the big showdown, the 2011 Etape du Tour. After a mammoth 3 1/2 hour faff to get our bibs (why did 8000 riders have to go in 1600 bus journeys up to Valfrejus ski resort just to get our bibs?).

Monday morning was warm and still and you know when you know you are feeling good so after the 10km ride to the start I confess I was feeling much better than a week ago at the Marmotte start.

Rolling out of Mondane in the 4th group on the road, the 3 of us in this group, Miles Smart, Steve Seddon and me, were soon on the front and glad we'd done our home work on the roundabouts for the shallow descent down to St Michel, with the group blasting along at around 55km's an hour and managing to stay out of trouble.

With the sharp left hander onto the Telegraphe and onto the climb, feeling strong and cresting the Telegraphe summit in 1 hr 12 mins from Modane for the short descent to Valloire. The great thing about closed roads is being able to use the whole road on both the acsent and the descent. On the way up the kick from the sweet spot on the switch back bend is a great motivator, and the safety of descending on the whole of the road means that there is much less braking - I reached a top speed of 71kmh during the day.

Onto the Galibier and once through the initial steep section after Valloire, the push on to Plan Lachat is a great place to take liquid and gels before the road really ramps up after Plan Lachat. Passing Marco Pantani's memorial ( and also Simon Abrahams who usually passes me!) and a non existent water stop (did anyone else find it?) and on towards the tunnel entrance, (why did the route map suggest a summit of 2556m rather than 2645m - it looked like we were to use the tunnel!) for the final ramp up to the summit in 2 hrs 42m from Modane. With the road re-surfaced for the Tour de France in the last couple of weeks the technical section from the summit to the tunnel exit is now much more rider friendly and after my Morzine incident, putting this to the back of my mind, and my target of sub 5 hours was definitely on. I only got over taken by one guy on the technical section down to the Col de Lauteret  and must have overtaken 30+.

Descending from the Lauteret is critical to get in a good group with the headwind,and with about 15 of us together through the tunnels , it was much safer being on the front. Over the dam and left onto the Bourg D'Oisans round the sweeping descent continues until a brief kick up through a tunnel. I quickly realised that I was off the front of the group, comparing to dropping off the back on this section during the Marmotte just a week  ago.  I opted to push on alone and using the full width of the road and using the smooth centre line pretty much all the way of the final flat section into Bourg.

With the 5 hour target still in sight and a brief water stop at the foot of Alp D'Huez, I was beginning to think that with an hour and 20 mins to get up the Alp that I just had to keep it steady........wrong! With the thermometer rising and the minutes ticking away the best solution was to use the whole off the road to get as much shade a possible. Suffering through Huez and onto the last 5 bends and managing a sprint up to the finishing line I'd managed to climb Alp D'Huez in 1 hour 17 mins and in a total time of 4 hrs 57 mins 2 secs.....result! Much happier than the Marmotte which I guess I have to put down to an off day.

Hats off to the 6461 finishers and anyone coming up Alp D'Huez in the 30 degrees + in the afternoon!

So now a brief rest before again setting off for Bour D'Oisans for the Tour de France next week and als start planning my attack on the Marmotte and Etape next year!

Marmotte 2011

06:15 last Saturday seems an age ago now, but descending from Alp D'Huez to the start of the Marmotte in Bourg D'Oisans the reality of the day ahead started to sink in.  7000 competitors, 174km, 5000M of climbing. Over £21M of bikes, half of Holland seem to be here and after our last attempt on the Galibier thankfully the weather is kind.

It was a very cool start to the day with the temperature around 7 or 8 degrees at the start, so with the band playing (!) we rolled out of BDO behind the superstars of the priority start in the first group proper.

After the gallop of the first 12kms or so the first 'hill' is up the face of the dam before joining the road up the Col de Glandon which gets more spectacular as you approach the summit. Over the top in just under 2 hours from BDO, and taking things easy on the neutralised technical descent, I started to think I'd overcooked already when I got dropped from a group on the main road up to St Michel de Maurienne and with the temperature rising I opted to take it very steady on the Telegraphe and passed through Valloire in 4 hrs 17. In hindsight I should have stopped here for more liquids as reaching Plan Lachat at the point where the Galibier really ramps up I had to take stock before pushing on. Nearing the summit I was struggling to raise my heartbeat above 150 when I normally climb at around 160, however down the other side and with a very strong headwind I managed to hang in a fast moving group for the hour plus descent to Bourg D'Oisans. If you are doing the Etape be super careful in the tunnels as the first one, and the third one(??maybe 4th) are super dark even without sun glasses on.

So with the last climb to Alp D'Huez and the day now getting much warmer it was a super slow grind up the Alp crawling over the line just before 9 hours, with an official time of 8hrs 32m after the Glandon descent is deducted. So after 5000M of climbing, and 174KMS on the road somehow I end up with a gold award! Gotta be happy with that at the first attempt....back next year!

So to the Etape. One week to go and significantly easier than the Marmotte, missing out the Glandon, but the same route over the Telegraphe, Galibier and ADH. Easy week this week and try for under 5 hours remembering to drink and eat a lot more!

Thanks to Mrs B for holding the Chalet Annabelle fort and support and patience over the last 5 months and also thanks to Steve and Anna at http://classiccyclingtours.com/ for great food, accommodation and general motivation!