If I had been able to muster even the tiniest amount of energy to speak as we all pushed on up and around yet another hairpin bend on the Col du Tourmalet, the mighty mountain pass made famous by the annual Tour de France bicycle race, I would also have liked to come up with a breezy retort.
For as I watched their impressively taut, lycra-clad thighs and backsides edge ahead, I caught several rasping words of wisdom (it seems that the Silver Duo were also having a tough time getting air into their lungs at our current altitude of around 1850m): “Ah, yes, but we said take it steady. Did we not? Oui? Yes?”
Indeed they had. But that was some 14km ago and I’d believed, in my naivety, that my younger legs could surely beat those of a couple of over-70s. In any case, the tortuous statistics that define the pass – one of the toughest in the gruelling Tour de France – mean that only the very fittest amateurs can pedal any faster than steady.
At 2115m (6,939ft), the summit of the Col du Tourmalet is more than one-and-a-half times higher than that of Ben Nevis. Tackling the western side, from the pretty village of Luz-Saint-Sauveur, means a muscle-crunching 19km climb over 1,404m at an average gradient of 7.4%. At several points this tops 9%, and even 10%. Despite the altitude, a fierce sun frequently bathes the pass, and during my trip to the region there was only the lightest of breezes. The east side is no friendlier and most reckon it’s the harder climb, with a steeper average ascent over the last 12km of about 9%.
But still the Tourmalet and many other infamous Tour de France cols in the Haute-Pyrenees department, part of the wider Midi-Pyrenees region, are a magnet for thousands of amateur cyclists. An Etape du Tour, just before the big event, attracts more than 9,000 cyclists to follow the same route.
For professionals, this year’s Pyrenean stages present some of the toughest ever. The 2010 event celebrates the centenary of its first venture into France’s high Pyrenean mountains, taking the riders not once, but twice, over the summit of the Tourmalet. Next Tuesday (July 20), the 16th stage will relive part of an historic 1910 stage by including four of the legendary Pyrenees cols, Peyresourde (1,569m), Aspin (1,490m), Tourmalet and Aubisque (1,709m). Starting from Bagneres-De-Luchon the, stage covers almost 200km to finish in Pau.
Two days later, the riders will leave Pau to cycle 174km and two more cols, Marie-Blanque (1,035m) and Soulor (1,474m), before finishing on the summit of Tourmalet, this time from the west side.
So, surely, even with mere mortal legs, I’d manage to cycle up one side of the Tourmalet, considered the “easier” west ascent, with the benefit of a whole day at my disposal, on fresh legs and with the chance to stop for refreshments, photo opportunities and a lie down whenever required, and with the promise of a luxury hotel and spa at the end of the day.
Well, that’s what I thought. After an early morning “warm-up” ride of some 18km from our hotel at Argeles-Gazost, my partner and I reach the start in great spirits. Lifted emotionally and physically by the mountain scenery, giant, tumbling waterfalls, magically clear rivers and smooth tarred roads set beneath a bright blue sky, we are ready for anything.
The first sign on the Tourmalet at 18km informs us that the next 1km will include an average of 7% gradient. There’s a similar sign every kilometre of the famous Col passes in the Pyrenees with details of altitude, distance to the summit and gradient.
Having added a few “easier” gears to my bike and put in some hours of training before leaving home, I find that to start with I can cycle steadily uphill without excessively punishing my leg muscles. At 17km to go I still have three “easier” gears left to utilise.
At 16km I drop another gear and again at around 14km , but still I hold on to the final gear like a security blanket as we slowly but surely tick off the kilometres. By the time we reach the village of Barèges, with less than half the climb under our belts, I am rather shocked to find myself already pushing my final gear and we stop for a short refreshment break. As we gulp down cola and a chocolate bar, we watch as the Silver Duo ride past, gently panting but still grinning.
And so we set off again to follow in the slick tyre marks of the other climbers. The landscape opens up to views of snow-capped mountains and lush green pastures and woodland. A few kilometres on, we again overtake the Silver Duo. As we smile at each other I hear them repeat the word “steady”. We are now two-thirds into the climb and I can feel a surge of adrenaline. Or perhaps it’s the artificial kick of cola and chocolate?
Ah, but it’s strange how kilometres of unremitting uphill cycling – a small surge over just a few thousand metres – can suddenly take their toll. After 14km the energy leaves my legs as suddenly as it had boosted them. My back aches and I feel a stabbing pain in my shoulder. Until now I’ve wiped away only a few beads of sweat but this has become rivulets of perspiration running down my back.
While the distance and gradient markers had previously been of only passing interest, I start to become obsessed. Approaching each one I pray for an easier kilometre. I find that just a 0.5% or 1% difference over 1km can translate into agonising pain in the leg muscles. But I am cheered on mentally as I look back to see the Silver Duo seemingly miles behind. However, the summit also appears to be a long way up in the distance.
Are my legs strong enough to make it to the end of this nightmare? Will I have to get off to walk? Why has it taken me so long to cycle just 500 metres? And then the Silver Duo catch me up. Their passing suddenly flicks a mental switch in my brain and I find a final reserve of determination to keep on going as the final stretch of the Tourmalet snakes a series of huge Zs with gradients up to 10.5%.
It is not difficult to see why, 100 years ago, many tour cyclists had to dismount to walk this section. Without recourse to the modern selection of smaller gears and on much lighter bikes, these professionals would have felt the huge force of gravity on their legs.
A century later, I could feel their pain. I badly needed another gear or three, my body was screaming “stop” and yet I kept on pushing. And then, finally, I was there. As I forced out the final revolutions, I slowly came to the top of the col and heard the cheers of other cyclists including the feisty Silver Duo.
If only I could have told the gentlemen I’d been taking my time, admiring the views and stopping to take pictures of soaring birds and roaming sheep and cows. But they knew I hadn’t – and so I shook their hands in awe.
Still, looking down from the summit at the long, steep and winding road up, I could feel only pride at becoming a Tourmalet conqueror. Like all the other smiling, red-faced cyclists, I took my turn to have my picture taken next to the summit marker and just below the memorial to Jacques Goddet, director of the Tour from 1936 to 1987.
While the ascent had been a battle of physical and emotional resolve, the descent was a dream. At speeds of up to 40mph, we free-wheeled down the east side of the Tourmalet towards our hotel, the Relais des Pyrenees, with its training centre owned by former Tour de France champion, Laurent Fignon.
To think that the professionals will be ascending more than 112km and cycling- almost 400km in just two days next week in the Haute-Pyrenees is mind-blowing. I do hope they find the chance to occasionally lift their heads to take in the scenery, too.
Trip was organised with the help of: Midi-Pyrenees Tourist Board, www.tourism-midi-pyrenees.co.uk.
Haute-Garonne Tourist Board, www.tourisme31.com.
Hautes-Pyrenees Tourist Board, www.tourisme-hautes-pyrenees.com.
ATOUT FRANCE – France Tourism Development Agency, www.franceguide.com.
Getting there
Jet2 flies from Edinburgh to Toulouse. Bikes can be booked on the flight as extra baggage. Visit www.jet2.com.
The SNCF train network offers regular trains, with bike spaces, from Toulouse to Tarbes, as well as other prime locations for cycling in the Pyrenees. Visit www.raileurope.co.uk/sncf.aspx.
