Etape Du Tour…….5 days to go

All the training is now complete and only rest and carb-loading remain between now and Monday July 11th at 7 a.m. when Steve and I will tackle our first Etape Du Tour on the same route as Stage 19 of this years Tour de France.

The route takes us from Modane in the South East of the French Alps, close to the Italian border, through St-Michael de Maurienne before heading up the first climb the Col du Telegraphe – 13 km of climbing.  After a brief respite spinning downhill into the ski resort of Valloire we then set our sights on the Col du Galibier a beast of a climb taking us up to 2566m!  We’re hoping to get there after about 3 hours but won’t have time to take in the amazing views as we’ll be speeding down the other side of the Galibier round fairly scary hairpin bends before the road opens out and heads down the valley towards Le Bourg d’Oisans.  This will be an opportunity to give the legs a little rest for , get into a group and take on some more carbs and drinks in preparation for the final assault up to Alpe D’Huez. Having already cycled 96km and climbed over 2000m the 21 hairpins of ‘The Alpe’ cover another 1100m so we have our work cut out to get to the top!

I can’t wait to get there as it will mean no more training!!!

Will keep you posted on progress over the next few days  – would be great to hear from you all.

Check out the route of the 2011 Etape and the climbs:[nggallery id=2].

1 Comment

  1. Ma station préférée reste sans commune mesure Courchevel 😉

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