Day 16, Stage 15. Not exactly the diet of an athlete.

Day 16, Stage 15, 7 July 2013, Givors Mt.Ventoux, 242km with 3 x 4 cat,1x 3 and 1HC climb.

Today’s challenge was greater than that faced by the pros in what turned out to be one 268km ride. A rough poll showed that no one had ridden this distance in one day ever before, most riders had clocked up 240km (150miles) as will be done by the professionals but the extra 17 miles made this an epic trip. It started well, with beautiful clear blue skies but after 10am the heat ate into the riders strength as they cycled Southwards from Givors.

Mt Ventoux in the distance

It was fortunate that the peloton had the benefit of a tailwind. If the wind had been southerly it would have helped with the ascent of Ventoux but the 220km ride to the base would have taken a lot longer with the result that they might not have been able to complete their journey. The ride to the base of the giant was not without challenges, there were four categorized climbs of cat 4,cat 4, cat 4, and cat 3 before the last HC “off the scale climb”. The ascent of Ventoux starts from Bedoin at 330m rising over the next 20km to the summit at 1912m.

Throughout the day Nick and Matt rode at approximately the same speed. More recently, as his performance improved, Matt has been riding with the “Autobus Eccosse”. This group of riders from north of the border have really helped Matt by giving him advice, tips and they schooled him their group riding methods. Nick has tended to ride separately with others trying to establish a similar group at a slightly slower pace, but at times he too has taken advantage of the “Autobus” and when he did he found them a real pleasure to ride with. They are really well organised, they ride at a sensible level of effort and they share the work fairly – in addition they are a really great bunch of people. So today Nick and Matt together rode with Autobus Eccosse. This really paid off because they were all at the base of Mt Ventoux by 16:30. There is no point in trying to ride the 20km up the mountain as a group, all riders need to find the most comfortable way of tackling this gut buster. Everybody's tactics varied. Despite having drunk 7.5 litres on the journey Nick was feeling a bit rough and wanted some additional fluid resuscitation at the bottom to reassure himself that his kidneys were still working. Matt was pleased that they had made it to the bottom is a good time. So they each had 2 cans of full fat Coke, an espresso and a chocolate ice-cream before setting off. Not exactly the diet of an athlete. The temperature in Bedoin at 4:30 was registered as 40 degrees on one bike computer which is probably not accurate but it was very, very hot.

Anyone who has ridden Ventoux will admit it is a challenging climb. The start from Bedoin is a fairly straightforward 4 km of 4-5% then as the road enters the woods it ramps up to gradients of 10-11% for the next 8km before flattening out near the café Renard. From then on it is a gentle 9% to the top with the exception of the last ramp around the weather station which seems to transiently reach 15%. The tree line ends at the level of the café and from this point the mountain is covered by pale rock resembling a lunar landscape. The heat on the way up was intense and the flies were attracted by the scent of the sweat of the riders. Sometimes riders wobbled from side to side whilst struggling against gravity with tired limbs. When Nick and Matt passed the café some of the TdF riders were making their way down having completed their conquest of Mont Ventoux, they shouted encouragement as they passed and made whoops of delight as they hurtled down the mountain to the hotel for food.

As Nick and Matt made their way up the skies darkened as if the mountain resented being beaten, the first claps of thunder then resonated in the distance and the wind which was now in their faces  became more intense. As they reached the summit the clouds hid the sun and the temperature plummeted. Clouds engulfed them where half an hour before, the skies had been entirely clear. Matt reached the summit first, a few minutes before the old boy wobbled his way to the top. By this time the scorching white hot summit they had seen from below had become a chilly brooding and frightening place.

Lunar landscape of Mt Ventoux

They were well prepared, Nick put on leg warmers, arm warmers, a gilet and a waterproof jacket and then switched his goggles as sunglasses were a hazard in the low light. Matt did the same. As they set off down the mountain swirling clouds hid the road and hail started to fall. The riders had been soaked in sweat for most of the day and now they were drenched with chilling rain. They had an intense desire to get to the bottom as soon as possible but it was a treacherous decent. Rubble was washed onto the road by the downpour and the riders were buffeted by the wind.  

Matt pulled up and sensibly took shelter with several other riders under an awning. Nick was so desperately cold he carried on down the mountain but when he realised Matt was not behind he became concerned and faced a dilemma of what to do. He was no longer capable of cycling up the mountain again so he pulled over and waited. After about 15 minutes the rain subsided and Matt appeared with Dr Col and they all set off again. Matt normally descends mountains more quickly than Nick but on this occasion Nick was desperate to get down and to get warm, so he was going faster than was sensible. Then the inevitable happened, the lower sections of Ventoux are steeper than the upper ones and as Nick came down through the trees to face a hairpin bend the decent reached 10% and he lost traction, his back wheel came around and his momentum threw him down the hill. His initial response was that he was glad he was not unconscious. After a quick assessment he concluded he had not broken his neck and he was able to stand. Johnny Wates was first on the scene and he noted that Nick seemed more annoyed than hurt. Fortunately because it was so cold Nick was wearing plenty of layers and these had slipped over one another unfortunately most garments were torn or holed but they had reduced the amount of skin left on the road. Nick sported the typical trilogy of bike-acquired grazes; knee, hip, elbow, but fortunately nothing was broken. Nick and Matt were pleased to reach the safety of the valley below Chalet Renard and even more relieved to get to the hotel. Their plans had succeeded; the Giant of Provence had been beaten. Every one of the 80+ Tour de Force riders completed the stage from start to finish. There was a silver lining to the ending though, the riders have been taking excruciatingly cold showers after each ride to reduce the muscle pains and aid recovery but the rain shower was so cold that Nick and Matt decided they had already had their cold shower and then took a warm one instead. 

The view from the top is like looking down from Space.

It was a real shame that the summit became so inhospitable. It would have been great if the riders had the chance to snap a few more photographs and enjoy the view but that was not to be.

Ventoux day stats

The weather station atop Ventoux