Rapha maker of the world's finest cycling jersey have put together an excellent preview of The Etape. Until reading this, I had previously been of the opinion that if I get get over the Col du Tourmalet, I can make it up the Hautacam to the finish. They make the Hautacam sound very tough. Very tough.
6 comments:
lee--
just wanted to wish you good luck. i, too, am balancing training with a new baby. it's going ok. i think i can do it this year. in '06 i got caught by the broom wagon. keep the work, it'll be worth it. good luck.....
joe
Good Luck Joe! I'm hoping the month-or-two of sleepless nights that come with a new born have instilled a kind of resilience that will help us through on the day :)
I rode up Hautacam for the first time and I found it easier than Tourmalet its much more undulating with switchbacks than Tourmalet. Starts off steep, then eases a bit the a couple of km near the middle are steep 3rd km from finish is a bit harsh but after that it slackens off for the last 2km to the finish which are quite pleasant. If you like a steady, straight incline you wont like it, but if, like me, you prefer something a bit more interesting and changing, then its a nice climb. Took me about 1hour to do the 13.5km 1170m climb to the car park (pretty sure this is where it finishes -- there is about another 1.25km, 100m to Col de Tramassel). For me, Col du Tourmalet is about 1.5hours from St Marie de Campan (a bit over 17km and 1350m vert.)
Thanks for the preview. I figure it'll take me best part of two hours to get up Tourmalet, because I'll be taking it easy (that's nonsense) and stopping at the food point. If Hautacam mellows out here and there, it'll be most welcome, because I'll be able to look around at the scenery instead of maintaining an empty stare at the road ahead :D
I rode the Hautacam in 35deg last Saturday with a couple of guys who'd been on the GPM10 Tour of Montblanc and I think the heat is going play a significant factor as there is not much shade! The guys I was with also thought that the Tourmalet was pretty tough compared with what they had done in the Alps. The food stop at La Mongie is going to be interesting because you still have 4km of tough riding before the summit (25-30mins for me) Ive stopped once at that point and restarting was pretty hard! Good luck!
Forgot to mention that for the first few kms off the top of hte Tourmalet, there are quite a few rocks on the road, so take it easy on that part of the descent!
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