---

May 2001 Diary

---

May 26th - A return to the Vercors and the Challenge du Dauphine

Leaving Grenoble at 6:45am, the sun was shining and the day looked certain to be a good one. However this soon changed as I drove up into the Vercors and the final few kilometres to Villard de Lans took me into thick fog.

I lined up at the start with 30 minutes to the Depart, alongside three other Cheltenham teammates and with what looked about 500 riders in front of us, and about double that number of riders behind. My girlfriend was riding the 75km event, with my brother and a friend cycling the 130km event. I was cycling the 182km route, and all of us were lined up together for the same start. I was wearing an electronic tag around my ankle that would register my time at a number of checkpoints over the course.

The first few kilometres were relatively flat and frantic, taking us north away from Villard to Lans en Vercors, and the first climb of the day over the Col de Croix Perrin. A short climb of only four kilometres in length and a climb that took us above the mist and gave us all a great view of mountain peaks with the sea of cloud settled in the valley.

The descent from the Col to the village of Autrans unfortunately took me back into the mist and I was careful to keep my distance from the riders in front. This section of the course was the flatest part of the day and took us though the winter ski resorts of Autrans and Meaudre, before then turning back to Villard. The cloud hid views of mountainsides covered in pine trees until we returned to the outskirts of Villard and began the second climb to Herbrouilly.

The Montee d'Herbouilly starts with a gradient of around five percent for the first three kilometres before flattening for the next six kilometres. The final three ramp up to about eight percent but the descent from the top of Herbrouillly is well worth the climbing that has already been done. There are 12 kilometres of hairpins and fast straights. It was certainly rapid, and I made sure I kept to the left of the road to avoid the fallen rocks that I seen a few days earlier.

I had been in group of seven at the top but two of us opened a small gap and we found ourselves isolated when we joined the flatter roads outside St Martin en Vercors. We worked together on the flat roads together, taking turns at the front, and it took us around five kilometres to catch the group in front.

The road gradually climbed till the last eight kilometres of the Col de St Alexis, and as the year before, the group splintered as the gradient steepened. The same thing had obviously happened with the group in front, and I found myself passing riders till I was able to join the group ahead. I looked across to my right on the early slopes of the climb to have a glimpse of the Grand Veymont, the highest mountain in the Vercors. On this day it was surrounded by cloud.

The road turns through 180 degrees to start the last two kilometres to the top of the Col, and two kilometres that are pretty flat. On all the climbs in the event, there were regular signs describing how far there was to climb. On the Col de St Alexis, it can be demoralising to discover there are 15 kilometres to the top, and it is a welcome suprise to spin along the last couple of kilometres to the Col in a bigger gear.

I took a bottle of water from a race helper handing them out at the Col and we rolled along to Vassieux en Vercors, the first checkpoint in the race. All the riders had to pass through an electronic checkpoint to make sure they had covered the event. Just after the village the routes split and the 182km riders split off from those riding the 130km distance.

The Col du Chau is the backdrop for Vassieux, a gap in the mountains that is 300m above the village. I cycled the Col alongside two other riders, and we would stay together as a group for the next hour. The road actually keeps climbing for another two kilometres from the Col du Chau, so although your legs may want relief, they won't have it for another few minutes.

We took it in turns at the front and descended before the two kilometres of gradual climb to the next Col. I was into unknown territory here as I didn't know the road. The countryside was lovely and it will be a road I come back to. Good tarmac - which is important to a cyclist descending in the mountains - and a long pretty descent into St Jean en Royans which dropped us onto two other Cols along the way.

I took advantage of a feeding station in St Jean en Royans before the climb of the Col de la Machine. I started the climb alone and found that the temperature had risen on the western side of the Vercors after the descent from over a 1000 metres to 200. The middle section of the climb is the hardest with the gradient averaging around eight to ten percent, but I found the view to the towns in the valley showed that I was climbing at a good speed.

 

For the final four kilometres, the road took me along one of the most impressive roads in France, passing through the tunnels and alongside the spectacular views of the Combe Laval. At the Col de la Machine, I was told I was in 65th place. As with the Col de Chau, the climb hadn't finished and it was a further seven kilometres to the Col de Carri. I passed one lone rider and enjoyed quiet roads and then a lovely fast seven kilometre descent to St Martin en Vercors.

I stopped and stocked up at the feed station in la Chapelle en Vercors, and then quickly latched onto a group of nine riders that was passing through the village. There seemed to be some infighting within the group with a rider going off up the road, and then the group catching him, and then he'd do it again. There was also a motorbike following the riders shouting instructions in French, who at one point squirted me with water, unhappy I think that I wasn't doing any work. I was happy to sit in though and take advantage of the shelter.

I knew what to expect from the final 20km after a training ride the week before and also last years event. I rode away from the group that I'd been recuperating in and rode the final two kilometres of the climb to St Julian en Vercors alone. I joined forces with another rider and took turns with him to descend into the Gorges de la Bourne.

The road through the Gorges de la Bourne is another gem in the Vercors, and it looked great after 170km. I knew that it wouldn't be steep and thankfully there was a tailwind pushing us all towards the finish. I passed one guy riding my event and he was happy to then sit on my wheel. We were then caught by another rider, who I worked with for a couple of kilometres, still with the other guy sat on our wheels. I decided to play games and let a gap open to see if the sheltering rider was bluffing about how he was feeling. He was tired and by the time I realised that, I had lost contact with the guy ahead.

 

I crossed the line in six hours nine minutes and 56 seconds, an average of 29.5 kph for the 182 km, and according to the paper in 48th position. The results in the paper had placed me in the 130km event, due to my tag not registering in St Jean en Royans, but it had been good weather and a fun day out in the Vercors.

 

May 28th - The Col du Telegraphe and too much snow on the Col du Galibier

Leaving St-Michel-de-Maurienne, the sign told me that it was 34 kilometres to the top of the Col du Galibier, and the sign below it said that the Col du Galibier was closed. Before the Galibier though, the first 12 kilometres of warm up was climbing to the Col de Telegraphe.

The temperature had been forecast to be just over 30 degrees in Grenoble, so it made perfect sense to get into the mountains for cooler climes. My brother was across for the week and I was keen for him to see some impressive scenery. In my opinion, the Col du Galibier is one of the most impressive climbs in the French Alps and he hadn't previously ridden it.

The climb of the 1570 metre Col du Telegraphe starts with its steepest sections in the first half, with the gradient easing for the final six kilometres. The climb leaves St-Michel with the Telegraphe building perched on the mountain above the town, but the village is soon left behind and you start to climb through woods. There are numerous hairpins zigzagging you up the mountainside, with views of the mountains on both sides of the valley.

I'd seen on the news the week before that the Jean Delatour team were training in Valloire, and what happened, two lean and brown riders descended down towards St-Michel, with each of us shouting hello to the other.

With three kilometres to the Col du Telegraphe, we passed the turning for Valmeinier and then turned a left corner which gave us views across to the Col and the Telegraphe on the top of the mountain. From the final kilometre, there were views of impressive peaks across the valley towards the southern mountains of the Vanoise massif.

The road is relatively flat for a couple of kilometres before dropping down to the winter ski resort of Valloire. I was using this ride as a refresher for the Marmotte event at the start of July. I would be cycling the Col du Telegraphe having already cycled the Col de la Croix de Fer, and it would be good for me to remember when the climb is hard and it wasn't just me thinking that I was going badly.

The sky was completely cloudless and the temperature was perfect for biking in the mountains. After Valloire, the gradient eased for a kilometre before the road hugged the left hand side of the valley, averaging about six percent. Marmots started appearing, running across the grassy slopes having been startled by the sudden appearance of two cyclists.

The turning point of the climb is the Plan Lachet, where the road sweeps around the end of the valley and starts to climb up the right-hand side of the valley, with the gradient steepening and hairpins every few hundred metres. It's a beautiful place, a natural amphitheatre with a backdrop of jagged white peaks towering at the back of the valley.

There was a barrier across the road blocking any access to cars, so we then had the climb to ourselves - not that we'd seen any other cyclists on the climb. It was just above the Plan Lachet when we started to climb past banks of snow.

 

After numerous hairpins and a couple of kilometres, the road crests over the valley side and we had the first views to the Col. It was a stunning sight, and a view that would have looked more at home in an advert for an Alpine ski resort. There was more snow than clear ground and perfect view onto the peak of the Grand Galibier with a backdrop of picture-postcard blue sky. The Col was completely covered in snow, but I could see the line of the road to the Col where the snow had cut through. After the sign at the bottom, I was optimistic that we could make it to the top.

 

From six kilometres to the summit, all kilometre stones that can normally be seen along the roadside disappeared under the snow. We were only in summer clothing but it was an incredible experience to cycle past banks of snow, many towering above us, and still be warm enough to enjoy the cycling in the fresh air.

With around four kilometres to the Col, we were climbing constantly past banks of snow and cycling over steams running across the road, caused by the melting snow. The snowbanks were increasingly becoming higher and higher, till just before the refuge at just over 2,500 metres, we passed a bank that must have been six metres in height.

 

Unfortunately the road was still blocked above the refuge. There was no chance to make the last kilometre or so, but we'd made it to over 2,500 metres and the weather was perfect. It was warm enough to not need my race cape on the descent. The roads may have been clear of traffic but I was still nearly taken off my bike by a speeding marmot, running across the road in front of me.

 

As we descended the Telegraphe, we again passed the two Jean Delatour riders climbing the Telegraphe. The same two riders we'd seen earlier. I imagine that they had probably ridden a hundred kilometres in the time we'd ridden to the Col and back, but we all shouted greetings again. At 70km, it wasn't a long ride, but it was one of the most spectacular and rewarding rides that I have ever done. I was also good experience for the Marmotte event, later in the summer.

---

Back to the Ride Reports

---