On 9 July, the gran fondo L'Étape du Tour de France took place, 157 kilometres between Annemasse and Morzine in the French Alps. Our editor Jean-Marie Henckaerts was there. He had a heroic day.
The profile: once category 3, three times category 1 and once hors category.
This gran fondo is special because participants ride the same course as the pros in the Tour. This year it was stage 14, which was ridden by the pros on Saturday 15 July. It was a serious mountain stage with no less than five climbs, including one category 3, three category 1 and one hors category. As per annual custom, the event was sold out with 16,000 participants at the start.
The start is by grid of a thousand cyclists, with the elite riders leaving at 7:00 and the last in grid 16 at 9:00. I don't actually think this is very fair. The best riders get to leave in the cool of the morning and reach the finish around noon, while the lesser riders can only leave two hours later and have to slog through the whole afternoon in the full sun. But I do understand that for sporting reasons this might not be possible to do otherwise. Otherwise, the elite riders have to wriggle through thousands of starters, which would be too dangerous. I can't complain, as I leave in grid 3 at 7:22.
The start is quite a show where you cycle between big pictures of Tour winners. Hopefully the five victories of a Merckx, Hinault and Indurain can inspire me. The first col is a run, the Col de Saxel. Just over 4 kilometres and just over 4% average. With fresh legs and in the nice morning chill, I get up here very quickly. The next two cols are exactly what I like: Col de Cou with 7 kilometres and 7.4% average gradient and Col du Feu with 6 kilometres and 7.8% average gradient. It's still nice and fresh here. The descents are also lovely, as the whole course is car-free. And because the Tour passes by here, the roads are in great condition! Still, some daredevils take too much risk. This is how I see two riders lying on the ground with the ambulance there.
Participants from all over the world.
From the fourth col, the real work begins. The Col de la Ramaz is 14 kilometres in length. The 7.1% average is misleading; halfway up the climb there are several kilometres where the gradient does not go under 10%. What makes this col 'easier' are all the signs of all past winners with their nicknames. So you can revisit the entire history of the Tour, for example when Jan Janssen, Joop Zoetemelk or Lucien Van Impe won their first and only Tour. Of course, it is noticeable that there is a gap when Armstrong won - he did not get any signs. After the descent of the Ramaz, it starts to get really hot. It will be one of the hottest days of this summer with 35 degrees in the shade.
At the foot of the last and most difficult col, the Col de Joux Plane (hors categorie), I feel cramps coming on. I have another refreshment at a garden hose and start the climb in the easiest gear: 11 kilometres at an average of 8.5%. Again, this means there are stretches above 10%. The climb is a real battlefield. At every spot with some shade, riders sit and lie on the ground. The heat is really scorching. Fortunately, the locals help with garden hoses and bottles of water. I don't want to set foot on the ground. But one kilometre from the summit, I get serious cramps and have to stop for five minutes before I can continue. I am frustrated as I see several hundred riders pass me by. But now I have the objective in sight. I have a drink, get back on and ride the last kilometre as best I can. A hundred metres from the summit, I get cramps again, but I bite through and reach the top. Then follows another descent to Morzine where a beautiful medal becomes my reward for a lot of effort.
A beautiful medal as a reward for the effort.
The top five in the elite are familiar names from the cycle circuit: Artus Jaladau, Dimitri Bussard, Damien Jeanjean, Tim Alleman and Loïc Ruffaut. They finish in around 4:30. In the women, there is a remarkable winner in the person of Martina Sablikova from the Czech Republic. She is not only known as a speed skater, but also has a cycling career behind her. The last rider crosses the finish line after more than 12 hours on the bike. He is a real hero. Meanwhile, we also know that the pros made this stage a spectacle: with Rodriguez winning just ahead of Pogi and Vingegaard.
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