Arrived at the Host Village for registration on Saturday afternoon. Got all the registration done and took time to wander around at the usual bike bling. After waiting for the Tombola results and not winning a new bike it was time for the pasta party. I hadn’t intended going but it worked out really well and the food tasted good.

Sunday morning up at 5am and into breakfast in my hotel in Pau. Full of other cyclists all getting fueled up as well.

I headed into the start line to get there for 6am. I had a 3km cycle from my hotel to the start pen and and other cyclists began to stream in from various directions. Once I got into the pen I was surprisingly near the front. I had expected to be wuite far back at this arrival time.

At 7am the race started and we got through the start line after only about 10mins which was quite surprising but gave a good start on the broom wagon. The run out of Pau was very fast with an immediate descent which soon came to a stop at a narrow road. Once through this though again the pace picked up.

Looking at the timings before starting I had thought it was going to be key to get a fast time to the Marie Blanque to take the worry of the brrom wagon out the way. Allowing for the descent afterwards it would then mean unless there was a real disaster it could be forgotten about.

The only problem was this first section was far from flat, by the time of arriving at the foot of the Marie Blanque my Garmin was already showing 680m on climbing. The initial climb of the MB was exactly as had been described with a very gentle gradient and was also cool and shaded in the valley. Once we got to the last 4km steep sections with an average 12% gradient things started to slow down. I had a nice rhythm going and was feeling comfortable but already there were some people weaving across the road. There were also the first few people walking. I remember thinking if you are walking now you are in for a long day. Unfortunately due to the amount of people on the narrow round eventually it all came to a halt. People had stopped further up the hill and gradually caused everyone to stop as they didn’t walk on the right. Cue lots of anger and swearing from many people who were happy cycling. So after a few 100m meteres of walking and pushing until it all sorted itself out before we could cycle again.

Went into the first feed stop and it was far better than last year. Water bottles were topped up with large 1.5l bottles rather than the small bottles handed out last year. This made it all far faster and with bikes being left to the side rather than everyone trying to cram them in it all worked well.

The descent of the MB was great with long sweeping bends. At the bottom of this section large pelototons started to form up for the comparitively flat section towards the Col du Solour. I probably should have gone slower at this part but I was looking at my time thinking a silver medal was a possibility at 8hrs15mins. It was also good fun averaging about 40km/hr continuously, not pro pace but fast for me.

The Col du Solour though turned out to be far tougher than expected. By now the sun was out and it was about 30oC. The pass up the Solour was exposed to the sun the whole way. I kept pushing all the way to the top as mentally I was thinking if I have to stop here I’ll never make Tourmalet. The views on the Solour were stunning though as you got properly into the first high mountain pass. It also started to get busy near the top with mobile homes preparing for the real Tour stage and some people providing along with their support bottles of water to pour over you.

Another great descent down from the Solour with fast straight roads. By now every town you travelled through had people cheering you on and large groups formed up again on the way to Angeles Garzost the last town before the Tourmalet. I knew my family were waiting here and after a fast downhill section into the town and out the straight on the other side I saw them standing at the roadside. As there were people on both sides of the road and the middle verge and the pace was going so fast I couldn’t safely stop and just had to keep going.

We entered the Luz Gorge and from having done my recce earlier in the week I was familiar with what was to come. After failing to get up Ventoux last year without multiple stops I was determined to manage in one go. The temperature by now was absolutely baking. I expected it to be hot but not this hot.

I stayed in the large ring for the early section as I had done on the recce run and felt comfortable,though knew the hard work wasn’t due to start until after Luz St. Saveur.

From Luz St Sav onwards it now was a mental struggle not to stop. My legs were really beginning to feel all the earlier climbing. As I always knew what was coming I could break it down into small sections and just keep a rhythm. This was also helped by the amount of people cheering you on the whole way up and plenty of them with water to throw over you which was much needed. I had realised at this point that my phone was in the back pocket of my jersey but was beyond caring if it was going to survive or not.

Entered Barages knowing there is a steep section to get out of it but also knew it was not far beyond that to the water stop. Keep the legs turning and don’t stop until the water.

Arrived at Super Barages were the water stop was thinking only 7km to go. Unfortunately at this point there are two routes up the Tourmalet, the obvious one which I had done on the recce ride and and the other one. It turned out we were doing the other one so a few unknown km’s to ride which also added an extra km onto the route. This was probably the lowest point as I entered the unknown.

This section has a steeper km than the other route and also it was harder to see teh views of the valley to take your mind off what was happening.

Finally I arrived at the restaurant with 4km to go and knew I was going to make it though the hardest sections were on the way. Again I was determined not to stop and achieve my aim of making the Etape without walking.

I kept focusing on making the 2km marker as this has a 300m straight with a 2% gradient. Once there it was just the final push to the summit. Under the 1km banner. There are still people stopped at the side of the road so close to the finish. Unless you have been there it must seem so strange to see someone that close and not understand how they can’t manage those few metres.

Round the final bend and people are shouting out only 300m to go, only 200, only 100 and then through the finish line.

I’d made it in 9hrs 36min. A long way from the silver medal time I’d considered at one point in the day but delighted to have achieved it without walking.

Overall only 6888 people finshed out of the 10,000 starters. I came 3911 which I am very happy with. I think this years event with the large climbs was a lot harder than last year with the multiple smaller ones before reaching Ventoux. This year I was fitter than last year and still took 1hr longer to finish and had a higher final placement.

So..my secondary goal for this year had been to finish the Etape and enjoy my evening as last year I ended up being sick all night.

After sitting resting and now starting to feel exhausted I headed down to the finish village at La Mongie which is 3km away. As I reached it my arms and legs were all starting to shake until my whole body was. I had to pull over my the police van lie on the floor and ask for help. My legs were cramping in excruciating pain and my whole body was trembling. I was worried I was having a heart attack or something. As it was I got taken to the medical tent and spent 3 hours on IV drips and valium at one point. Not the ending I was hoping on.