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After a pretty busy schedule in France I left Alpe d’Huez on Sunday afternoon and headed to Valfrejus, to meet the Wiggle crew at the Etape and get myself ready for the most famous Sportive in the World and one of the biggest. The Etape du Tour, translates as a Stage from the Tour, Etape for short it uses a stage from the Tour de France and riders from all over the World come over to take part with 10,000 riders on closed roads.

When I arrived at Valfrejus it was a little chaotic, but also quite well organised. The expo area was big and there was plenty to do and see. I had managed to get the organisers to change my number from a high 6000′s to a high 2000′s, so I hoped to get a better ride as a result with less hold ups.

The first riders left at 7am and I rolled over the line 20 minutes later. The pace was pretty good from the go with a group of faster riders forming, although it was not organised in the slightest. After about 20 minutes of mostly gentle downhill riding we hit a sharp left hander and started the first climb of the day, the Col du Telegraphe (11.8km long, average 7.3%). Of the large group that had formed I moved ahead with a 2 other riders, and rode as a group of 3 for the first few kilometres. From the very beginning of the climb we were passing a continuous line of riders who had started in earlier groups, although the closed roads made it pretty simple to get by. My heart rate was getting pretty high, so I eased up slightly and let them drift away to make sure I didn’t blow on the first and smallest climb of the day! For the last 5km a French rider caught me up, I decided to look “experienced” and figured his would be a good wheel to follow, which I did until the top of the Telegraphe. The climb is often overlooked and thought of more as part of the Galibier, rather than a climb in its own right and that is because there is a 5km descent to break the two apart. The descent to Valloire was fairly tame, but the number of people made it a bit more interesting. I had to take a few more interesting lines through the bends and dropped the French rider as a result. That was a bit of a shame, as I hoped to ride with him through the easier lower slopes of the Galibier.

On to the Col du Galibier (18.1km, average 6.9%) which starts from Valloire and rises steeply at first before mellowing out slightly for a few kilometres. Most people recognise the 8km to go marker as the point it gets tougher, as the road turns round and switches it’s way up the Mountain. I felt pretty good up the climb, the Focus Izalco felt amazing and the kilometres were ticking by pretty quickly. Reaching the top I put my dhb clear gilet on to protect me form the cold air on the descent and made my way down. Again the number of riders made it interesting, but there was a head wind on the faster sections, which was a little disappointing as I hoped to get up to some seriously fast speeds.

I knew the section from the Galibier to the bottom of Alpe d’Huez would be very important. It is overall downhill but there is always a head wind going in that direction and pretty slow going. I managed to hook up with a few other riders to get down with and as distance went on we picked up more and more people. It was certainly faster than riding alone but nowhere near as fast as was possible. As we reached the bottom of Alpe d’Huez the group had dwindled from 20 or so down to just 3, perhaps as those behind were looking to save themselves for the looming climb.

Reaching the bottom of Alpe d’Huez (14.5km, 7.9% average) I knew that I wouldn’t get anywhere near the 49 min, 10 second time I set in the previous week when I timed myself up. I had hoped to get up in under an hour though. I hadn’t really drunk enough over the distance to the bottom of the climb as I had almost a full 800ml wiggle bottle left. I took it steady over the bottom few hairpins, easing myself into the climb. I decided I would get to the village of Huez, which is after roughly 10km (6 hairpins to the finish) and then push harder. It was getting really hot and I was drinking at quite a rate. Before long the bottle was nearly empty and I started to ration what I was drinking. The climb is quite open, but there is some shade form the trees at times and I used it whenever possible. Before I got to Huez I knew I was struggling, as I was almost always in the smallest gear, 39/25 and a few riders with similar number to me moved ahead. I tried to hold the wheels, but wasn’t able to. Looking at the Garmin 500 I knew a sub hour climb would be unlikely. Moving into the last 4 hairpins I had used all my drink and I was really thirsty. The only thing that kept me pushing was the spectators along the route, who were plentiful and very enthusiastic. Finally reaching the town I knew there was only a few KM’s to go, so dug deep and gave it everything. The final kilometre is quite flat with a short rise to the finish. I put it in the big ring and pushed to the finish, stopping the clock at 4 hours 26 minutes with a time for the Alpe of 1 hour 4 minutes, which shows how much of a struggle it was for me.

The experience of racing the Etape was magic, with the roads closed and people spectating along the route it made it really enjoyable. Even with 10,000 riders everything was well organised and went pretty smoothly. I’d certainly do it again and with a half descent result should get a good starting number next time. Getting in the front group of riders is vital for a top time, as all the fastest times come from there. The fastest time was a rather quick 3 hours 39 minutes! There were several domestic French pro teams in attendance, all racing it as a team which obviously makes a difference.