L’Étape du Tour - Foix to Loudenvielle - 16th July 2007 

by Ian Turner

Unfinished Business 

I didn’t realise it at the time but my training for the 2007 Etape started 12 months earlier, as I crossed the finish line of the 2006 edition of this popular French cycling event. After a very long and exhausting day in the saddle I had felt very disappointed with my performance, finishing with a time of 8 hours and 13 minutes and 1,681st position overall. I tried to console myself with the fact that more than 2000 of the 7500 starters had failed to finish but the reality was that my performance had fallen well short of my expectations.  

After a short period of negative reflection ‘where the hell did it all go wrong….?’ I set about making amends, and vowed to return the following year to do the Etape du Tour justice. I

 maintained some sociable riding through the remainder of 2006 and supplemented it with a return to another of my favourite sports, and ran the St Neots and Bedford Half Marathons.

 In October, ASO, the Etape organisers announced the 2007 route: 198 km from Foix to Loudenvielle, in the Ariege, Haute Garonne and Hautes Pyrenees regions. The route included 5 tough climbs: the  Col de Port (1249m), the Col de Portet d’Aspet (1069m), the Col de Menté (1349m), the Col du Port de Balès (1755m), the Col de Peyresourde (1569m). The general consensus being that this was a tougher course than in 2006.

Etape Profle 

My ‘on the bike’ training started early in January. Traditional Sunday rides with training partner Steve were supplemented by a new Saturday training ride with North Road CC. I looked forward to each Saturday morning, where the ‘fast’ group belted out 3 hours of hard riding whatever the weather. By March these weekend training rides and some mid-week turbo sessions were paying dividends and my weight had decreased and fitness improved.  

During March and April I was introduced to the world of road racing, both LVRC and BC. Tony B and Frank R ensuring that my number was pinned on correctly. My final preparation before a Spring of UK Sportives was a week long Etape recce trip to the Pyrenees. It wasn’t possible to cycle over all of the cols included in the Etape due to high level snow, but I did tick off the Col de Port and Peyresourde, amongst other lower level cols. 

After an early mechanical(on the first hill!) and subsequent retirement on the Fred Whitton, I went on to complete a sportive event each weekend through May, June and early July and this formed the foundation to my final build up to the Etape, with mid week recovery, hill and speed sessions. The list of completed events included; The Forest of Dean Classic, Hampshire Hilly, Tour of Wessex, ‘so you think Essex is flat?’, White Rose Classic, Circuit of Cotswolds, Dragon and finally the British Cyclosportive. It was pleased to see a great turn out from North Road on this final home event. 

First Climb of the day - Circuit of the Cotswolds 

As final preparation for the Etape, I joined several mates in the Pyrenees 10 days before the event and enjoyed a week of cycling various classic cols and sampling the local cuisine and hospitality. During this time I was pleased to recce the full Etape route on the bike and to familiarise myself with each of the climbs and descents. Our group were provided with excellent backup and support by Paul and Armelle from Sport Adventura throughout the trip. 

Two of the group returned to the UK and left me and my good friend and fellow Etape entrant Richard to contemplate the big task ahead of us. We spent a couple of restless days indulging in local French cuisine and enjoyed Bastille Day celebrations in local metropolis Montrejeaux.

 Finally the big day dawned, having registered the previous day and collected race numbers and final instructions we made our way by car back to Foix. This involved a 30 minute detour, at the request of the local Gendarme. Fortunately we had allowed for plenty of contingency with our 4 am start and therefore arrived in dark and cool Foix just before 6am. It was quite a sight with the whole town waking up to thousands of very nervous looking cyclists. 

Pre-dawn in Foix 

With start numbers in the mid 6000’s we made our way to the Blue and final start pen (with all the other Brits!). The long wait ensued, interspersed with final preparation toilet trips through the fence and over the wall and nervous chatter, all the while trying to understand the building excitement of the commentator over the low quality tannoy system.

 7am and the gun was fired to start the race. It’s quite surreal knowing that the front riders are off and to still be surrounded by thousands of stationary cyclists. Experience told me not to worry, remain patient and just roll forward with the group, knowing that my time didn’t start until crossing the timing mats. We crossed the mats at approximately 07:20. 

My plan was to ride the first 100km within myself and then push on in the second half, knowing that the course becomes tougher as the route progressed. 

The first 15 km were relatively flat and I took the opportunity to join a very fast moving group, I was blowing quite hard and certainly working harder than I’d intended to at this early stage but was happy to be moving, getting rid of early anxiety and making up so many places. 

At Tarascon, the route turned to the West and the climb of the Col De Port began. A 2nd category climb and as far as I remember no real nasty surprises. The weather was still being very kind with relatively cool temperatures due to the thin veil of high level cloud. I found a small group who were travelling at my chosen speed and ticked off the kms to the summit, where I was pleased to feel quite comfortable. With a 35 km long, fast descent to Saint Giron things were looking good.

 I found this first descent the most daunting of the day. It wasn’t overly technical or steep, but was shared with many other cyclists all competing for their chosen line through the numerous bends. My confidence whilst descending had increased enormously during the previous week’s recce and I was keen to put this to good use but felt unable to do so on this stretch. After what seemed like one very long roller coaster ride I arrived in Saint Giron.

 I skipped the feed stop and continued on my way, turning left towards the next climb of Col de Portet d’Aspet, another 2nd category climb. It was during this stretch that the sun made its unwelcome appearance and the temperatures soon rose. It was frustrating to be confronted with a head wind on the run up to the start of the climb, which saw the formation of numerous single file groups, snaking onwards and up the valley. Although climbing from Audressein, this col doesn’t really kick up until after the village of Portet d’Aspet, where the heat contributed to a further 3 km of sustained and hard climbing.

 The top of this col marks the half way point of the 2007 route, however I knew that this was in distance only and that the second half would be significantly harder than the first, due partly to the higher concentration of climbs and also the expected on-set of fatigue. 

Once over the top of the col, the road descends very steeply with gradients of up to 17%, past Cassartelli’s memorial and then an almost immediate left turn to the start of Col de Mente. 

By now the sun was getting very strong, and any shade provided by the surrounding trees was a welcome relief. This is a 1st category climb and although never very steep, it has an average of 8% over the 13 km. My main inspiration on the climb came from passing a friend who had over taken me earlier on the Port d’Aspet, this gave me extra motivation to push on. As the climb developed I found myself looking down a series of switch-backs that looked as though they’d been stacked on top of each other. The switchbacks stopped and I entered the forested section which I knew meant 2 km to go. I found these last two kms tough as the road straightened and felt harder than it should have been. The summit arrived and I took the opportunity to fill both bottles and stuffed another 2 in my jersey pockets. 

It was only 3 days previously that I’d recced the Mente and remembered the descent to be fast and flowing, switch-backs at the top and straightening out for the bottom half. I let myself go here and passed many riders before reaching the valley and the village of St Beat.

  During the 15km drag down the valley road, large groups once again formed to protect themselves against the strong head-wind. You could feel the mood of un-spoken apprehension descend on the group, as we approached the main event of this year’s Etape, Col du Port de Bales. I took the opportunity to eat and drink as I knew this would be the last chance I’d get for some time. For the first time on this ride I started to feel quite tired and a little nauseous. I knew that the next climb would be a real challenge and would make or break my day. 

The Bales climb is brutal, it is 19.2km long if measured from Mauleon  Barousse, with an average gradient of 6.2%. This statistic is very mis-leading as the first 7km are very easy gradient (2-4%) until a left turn takes you up into the forest where the gradient is never below 8%, very rarely less then 9% and has long sections of well over 10%. It is for this reason that the climb earns its HC status.

  Having passed through the village of Mauleon Barousse, I told myself to ‘just get on with it’ and vowed to find a good sustainable tempo that I could maintain throughout the climb. However, my best laid plans were put to one side as a fast lone rider came tearing past me. I knew we were on easier gradients for a good 6km and therefore decided that I’d get on his wheel and get a tow up to the steeper section. This sounded like a great idea until after 100m of being on his wheel; the French rider looked behind, saw I was there and motioned me through with his left arm. I took the bait and we worked well together, but only until the road steepened and he left me to find my own pace. 

The next 12km to the summit were very tough. It was hot with the sun directly overhead, the tar in places had melted and stuck to my tyres. The gradient was ever changing and meant that it was impossible to find any rhythm. I just resolved to keep turning the pedals, and stood up every couple of minutes to stretch my back. Approximately two thirds up the climb, with 4-5km to go I experienced what was to be my only doubt on the day. I had taken care to eat and drink well on the day but suddenly felt empty; this coincided with a particularly steep section and for several seconds I entertained some very negative thoughts. This low moment was to pass and the climb continued. 

Regular kilometre markers provided a summary of what lay in store for each section of the day’s climbs and I found them both useful and annoying. Useful in that they told me what to expect, annoying in that they appeared at an alarmingly slow rate and just re-enforced the size of the hill and task still ahead. 

With 3 km to go the road opened up into an alpine meadow/moorland and the views over the surrounding mountains were stunning, I felt a little guilty for not appreciating them more, but there was still work to be done. After what felt like an eternity, the painted road markings told me that the summit was just 100m up the road and I managed to get out of my saddle and accelerate to the top. A fairly large crowd had formed at the top and it was very encouraging to hear a fellow Brit supporter shout ‘well done North Road’. 

Up to this point on the ride I knew that all I could do was ride to my plan and keep going, due to the nature of the route it was impossible to tell whether I was on target, or behind. This had weighed heavily on my mind. Now, at the summit of the penultimate climb and for the first time I knew that barring any unforeseen problems I would be able to finish the ride within the Silver time standard of 8 hrs and 49 minutes which was my target. I allowed myself a brief sense of elation before sobering up with thoughts of the final challenge to come. 

After a quick bottle re-fill and with lifted spirits I set off on the Bales descent. This road was built by the French authorities especially for this year’s tour, and was therefore in immaculate condition. Although narrow, the surface was smooth black tarmac and could be seen snaking down the valley for miles. The only hazard was patches of gravel on the occasional tight bend. All of this made for another fantastic descent. 

Descending Port de Bales 

The Bales descent ends abruptly at a T junction, where a right turn leads straight into and up the Perysourde, the final climb of the day. On any other day this would be a reasonably comfortable category 1 climb, but with 180km and 4 previous cols in the legs it proved quite a challenge. I ground my way upwards. As I pedalled through a small cluster of houses in the village of Castillon, my mind was given a welcome break by a lone old man, sitting outside a local bar playing a cheerful tune on his squeeze box and grinning away, I managed a smile as a small sign of appreciation. 

After negotiating the final 3 switch-backs of the climb, I passed the sign-post marking the summit and accelerated down the other side, knowing that all that remained between me and the finish was the Perysourde descent. Anybody that has seen or ridden this stretch of tarmac will know that with the exception of a couple of hairpin bends it is flat out all the way to the valley floor, where once over the last rise a further 1 km of down-hill leads to the finish line in Loudenvielle. 

I managed a sprint to the line, along with another Etapist that I’d ridden the last couple of kilometres with. Once across the line, we eased off, had our transponders removed from our ankles and were given our finishing medals. We shook hands, congratulated one another and went our separate ways.

 I finished the event in 8:22:11, comfortably within the Silver medal time standard and in 563rd place. 8,500 entered, 7,000+ started and 4,357 completed the route within the 12 hour limit.

Ian Turner and Richard Gordge at the finish in Loudenvielle

The timing standards and selected route for 2006 and 2007 suggest that the Etape organisers are making this event harder each year. What delights they have in store for next year remain to be seen.  

I’m looking forward to more cycling challenges in the near future but not sure what they will be just yet. My immediate challenge is to paint the house, decorate the bathroom and kitchen and all the other jobs that have been put on hold. 

The statistics 

Distance           198km
Elevation           4,000+ metres
Number            6537
Time                 8hrs 22’ 11”
Overall              563rd
In class            261st  

Standards Achieved 

6/313 of Cat A (20-29) got Gold and 57/313 Silver
28/1107 of Cat B (30-39) got Gold and 145/1107 Silver
43/1640 of Cat C (40-49) got Gold and 305/1640 Silver
4357 riders finished within the 12 hour maximum