L’ E TAPE DU TOUR REPORT
The team arrives in a steamy France for their Etape du Tour showdown
Team Alpecin’s date with destiny arrives at the world’s biggest mass participation event
This is it. Months of planning, expectation and anticipation boiled-down to one 135km day out in the Alps. L’Etape du Tour promises 15,000 riders a true taste of the Tour de France, with a fully-closed route and a chance to compare yourself to the pros who compete in the same stage shortly after. Well, that’s the idea…
You’ll have no doubt witnessed the freak weather that led to landslides in the Alps, scuppering the final few days of one of the best Tours in recent history. It caused an abandonment midway through Stage 19 to Tignes, and a truncated Stage 20 to Val Thorens, which was cut to 59km, amounting, essentially, to a hill climb to the ski station.
A week earlier, at the Etape, conditions were rather di erent. France was not so much basking as broiling in the canicule
that swept the country and shattered heat records. The full 135km, 4563m elevation route, from Albertville to Val Thorens, remained intact and imposing.
For Team Alpecin, all roads led to the Etape. Making the start line in Albertville was the culmination of a season that began early in March with the first meetup in Germany, moved to the Italian Dolomites for their first training camp in April and included a bunch of warm-up events, including May’s Fred Whitton Challenge in the Lake District.
The season preparation was, largely, perfect, but travel over to any event can throw up last-minute obstacles, particularly air travel and sickness. Flying with a bike always induces a nervous wait by the bag belts as you wonder if your steed has taken an unsalvageable knock by an over-zealous baggage handler, or even if it’s made the journey at all and is instead languishing back in your departure airport. Stakes were raised further on this occasion by an untimely failure of the check-in computers at Heathrow.
“My bike showed up – but it was my main holdall that failed to materialise,” says Nick Mayer. “The line at lost luggage was a long and
L’Etape du Tour promises 15,000 riders the chance to compare themselves to the pros
growing one but, thankfully, I’d put my helmet and shoes in hand luggage.”
For Marie-Louise Kertzman, best laid plans were torpedoed by illness. “I had a really good run up to the event and felt as prepared as I could possibly be,” she says. “It was only two days before that something felt wrong. I came down with a virus very quickly and it knocked me out. The day before the race, I could barely climb a flight of stairs, let alone even consider getting on a bike, so in discussion with our coaches they told me not to ride.
“I won’t deny that I was gutted not to be on the start line, but at the same time, you have got to respect these events. They’re long, gruelling and in this instance, very hot. Going out there in my state could have done long-term damage to my health. I know I made the right call. There will be another Etape du Tour.”
Ready? Set, go...
Starting the Etape is determined by a selfprescribed average speed you expect to cover the event in, with faster (or overly optimistic) riders starting in the early waves. Wave 0 departed at 7am with another 1000 riders following every seven minutes.
“It was a crazily early start time,” says Mayer. “My alarm was set for 4am, but I needn’t have bothered as I was woken before this by my lovely German teammates in the adjoining room, playing some kind of ridiculously catchy Euro pop music, on repeat. It’s ingrained in my head for ever more I think.
“I couldn’t stomach breakfast that early so I packed a sandwich and waited till I was hungry, eventually forcing it down.”
For Michael Rammell, his nerves increased the closer it got to his start time. “I kept telling myself not to start too hard, just to go at my own pace. Of course, my struggles with pacing came back to bite me and as soon as that klaxon went o and it was go time, I couldn’t help myself and set o too fast.
“As we zipped through Albertville, the first climb hit us almost immediately. Riders started to drop back and knock o the pace. I don’t think I was the only person that got carried away.”
“There was no warm up for climbs on this route,” says Mayer. “I think we were climbing from 3km in until 41km. “The first big climb of the day was Cormet de Roselend. It was already starting to get fairly hot so I was keen not to go too hard,
I took it fairly easy on the climb, seeing out any shade where I could Nick Mayer
too soon, I took it fairly easy on the climb, seeking out any shade where I could. I think the average gradient was about six per cent for about 20km. It was a truly beautiful climb – coming around a corner and seeing the Lac de Roselend for the first time was special. Not many people stop to take photos at the Etape, but if any moment deserved it, it was this.
“I wanted to make up some time on the descent," Nick continues, "I knew there were a few long straights before the road narrowed and the switchbacks started, and I hit just over 80km/h at one point before I lost my bottle and hit the brakes. I was confident in my own abilities but with so many other cyclists around me I just thought one dodgy manoeuvre could end my race before it had properly started. The descent was actually my favourite part of the entire race," Nick says, "there were some technical parts but there were also some wide-open straights.
“Once over the first mountain the riders descended in to Bourg-SaintMaurice, which is surrounded by famous Alpine climbs like Col de I’Iseran and ski resorts such as Tignes and Les Arcs.
“But the route headed towards the nondescript climb of Côte de Longefoy, though the descent was great fun, with 25 rapid switchbacks, resurfaced for its Tour de France debut. From there it was a quick blast down a motorway to Moûtiers and the foot of the 35km climb to Val Thorens. The heat was now at full blast and riders were beginning to su er.”
It was at this point where Rammell’s engine began to splutter. “As soon as the road went uphill again I just couldn’t do any more than 210-220 watts. My legs were turning and I felt okay, but I just couldn’t get any more power out. I looked down numerous times to check to see if I had a flat tyre or if something was wrong with the drivetrain, but no, it was me. I’d overcooked it.”
Race to the end
The climb to Val Thorens is a true test of mental strength, ticking o each kilometre marker until you reach the main resort. Once in the town the finish line is in sight, albeit up a nasty little kicker on a narrow gravel path, but by then you are just relieved to be reaching the finish line.
“Once I reached Val Thorens the main feeling was just relief at having made it,” says Mayer. “It was the hardest day on a bike I have ever faced. I consider myself to be a competent cyclist but it was just brutal. I had serious doubts at various points as to whether I’d even make the finish. The heat was a big factor in that.
On the minds of the Brits was whether this was harder than the Fred Whitton or not. “In my mind the Etape was absolutely harder. But did I enjoy it? Absolutely. It will live with me forever,” says Rammell. “Not just as one of my best cycling memories, but best memories full stop.”
I looked down to check to see if I had a flat tyre... but no, it was me. I’d overcooked it Michael Rammell