This is the big one. They capped the entries one week before at 7000. Loads of Brits, Dutch etc. all wanting to test themselves on the legendary
TDF climbs in the Alps. 5000m of climbing, 175
kms and 4 monster
TDF classic climbs. Almost 70
kms of climbing. Anything under 8hrs is
reckoned to be a good time. All the roads were open to traffic making the
descents very hairy. Had to ride down from
L'alpe d'Heuz in the morning to the
startline with tons of others. Saw some guy in the ditch with an ambulance siren coming in the distance,
fack. There were three start waves, I was in the last. Took 20 min just to cross the line cause there were so many people. Passed people all day long. The road was completely filled with cyclists and I was never more than 50m from someone at all times even whilst
descending at 70km/hr. After 6.5hrs saw a sign for 15km to the finish, normally this would take 20 min. 13 of those were a constant 8% up
L'alpe d'Heuz. There were people flaked out all over the place in the heat. Afterwards, I said never again.
Marlen laughed as I'd said the exact same thing last year.
Start: Bourg d'Oisian at the base of Alpe d'Heuz
Climbs:
Col du Glandon, 24kms of climbing, 1150m gain, ave 5% grade
Col
de Télégraphe, 12
kms of climbing, 850m gain, ave 7.3% grade
Col
de Galibier, 18
kms of climbing, 1245m gain, ave 6.9% grade
L'Alpe d'Heuz, 13.2
kms of climbing, 1070m gain, ave 8.1% grade
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