In 2008 I've done the Etape for the first time. It was around the same place: starting in PAU, going across Tourmalet and finishing in Hautacan. Although this year the pacour is different, the area is basically the same. In the 5 days we stayed in France then a couple of things got stuck in my memory: the beauty of the region, the unpredictability of the weather and how tough the climbs were.
We stayed in Aspin, a little village close to Lourdes and a very good spot for training. From there we could reach Col du Tourmalet from Bergeré side and we did half of the climb during the trainings. It is funny that we are going to do it again. But now the whole thing! The road has waterfalls, rocky hills and great visuals every couple of kilometers. It was also very cool to cross the city of Lourdes during the race day with all the people in the sidewalk cheering you up.
On the other hand the weather is something really to consider. In 2008 we have done 2 training rides before the race. The first one on the rain but not too cold. The second one on a beautiful sunny day with 20º C. The race day, though, gave us a rainy cold day: with average 12ºC and 3ºC on the top of Tourmalet. That was very challenging and one need to think carefully about the clothes to wear on the race.
And how hard it was to climb? Well, apart from being my first year on cycling and Tourmalet was my first real mountain to climb, it was very tough. It was also different because it was from La Mongie side. But for what I remember from the descent, it is full of hairspins but the last 2 kms are going to be hard, specially when you had already 172 kms in your legs.
So, to keep in mind: enjoy the food before, enjoy the views during and try to forget the pain. Pace yourself. Especially on the Marie Blanque climb. It is a very tough climb (more to talk on next posts) and you need to be careful not to blow up so early in the game.
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