For those of you who may have been so caught up with World Cup fever that you may have forgotten that there are other sports here is a reminder: the Tour de France, the most epic bike race in the world is now entering its second week of competition. The race started on Saturday, July 3 in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. After moving through Belgium, the race is now back on French soil.
The Tour de France is full of great traditions, as it befits a cycling event in bike-crazy Europe. One of the Tour’s most cherished traditions is the running of the L’Etape du Tour, literally translated as, “The Stage of the Tour.”
In this annual event, amateur riders from all over the world ride the same stage route that the regular Tour’s competitors ride on. The stage changes every year. Last year, L’Etape took riders up Mt. Ventoux, one of the most feared mountain stages in all of the Tour. Our very own Between Homes resident and dear friend Monsieur Arcabulle Odriscoll climbed to the top of Mt. Ventoux.
For more details about M. Odriscoll’s 2009 ride to the top of Mt. Ventoux, click here:
L’Etape du Tour - 2009
And here (you need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see teh results from the 2009 Etape):
Against the Wind
In celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees, this year’s Etape du Tour will feature the same celebratory route as one of the most crucial Pyrenean stages of the Tour de France.
Taking place between Pau and Tourmalet, the 2010 Etape du Tour offers bike riders the opportunity to take part in a mass participation cyclosportive event along the same route that the Tour’s pros will ride just a few days later. Riders participating in this year’s L’Etape will battle Tour de France legendary mountains such as, Col du Soulor, Col de Marie-Blanque (incorporated in the race for the first time in 1978) and the famous Col du Tourmalet, the highest road in the central Pyrenees and the most used of all the mountain passes in the race.
L'Etape du Tour 2010 - Tourmalet
Climbing high, grueling, knee busting and spirit breaking mountain passes has been a Tour tradition since the beginning of the race. The first Tour de France included one mountain pass – the Ballon d'Alsace in the Vosges – but several lesser cols. The first was the col des Echarmeaux, on the opening stage from Paris to Lyon, on what is now the old road from Autun to Lyon. The stage from Lyon to Marseille included the col de la République, also known as the col du Grand Bois, at the edge of St-Etienne. True mountains, however, were not included until the Pyrenees in 1910. In that year the race rode, or more walked, first the col d'Aubisque and then the nearby Tourmalet.
The highest climb ever in the Tour, reaching a total of 2715 meters, was the col de la Bonette in the 2008 Tour de France. The highest mountain finish in the Tour was at the col du Granon in 1986. The 2413-meter pass was reached first by Eduardo Chozas of Spain. Mountains such as the Galibier, Tourmalet, Alpe d'Huez, Madeleine, Ventoux and Aubisque attract amateur cyclists every day in summer to test their fitness on roads used by champions.
The difficulty of a climb is established by its steepness, length and its position on the course. The easiest climbs are graded 4 with the hardest climbs rated as 1. Exceptionally difficult climbs, such as the Tourmalet, are beyond classification, or hors catégorie. Notable hors catégorie peaks include the col du Tourmalet, Mont Ventoux, col du Galibier, the climb to the ski resort of Hautacam, and Alpe d'Huez.
On Sunday, July 18, M. Odriscoll will once again ride in L’Etape du Tour. He will ride, together with other riders from his cycling club, all the way to the top of col du Tourmalet.
As I did last year, I ask all BH residents and friends, to send words of encouragement to M. Arcabulle “Arc” Odriscoll as he once again climbs another “beyond-classification” mountain.
Send Arc your IMs and notecards. Arc will love to hear from you as he heads out on another epic climb.
(Long video – in French)
Good luck Arc!
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