July 2004 Diary
July 3rd - The Fifth Marmotte
Since arriving in France in 1999, the Marmotte has turned into my goal of the year. There hasn't been another event that I have ridden that has pushed me to my limits like the Marmotte. It's a tough day on the bike, not only physically but mentally as well.
The 174 kilometre course has not changed in the five years I have ridden, and the day starts by climbing the 2067 metre Col de la Croix de Fer. It is followed by a long descent to the valley and then the 1,577 metre Col de Telegraphe. The high point of the day is the 2646 metre Col du Galibier. 50 kilometres of descending then follow before the final climb up to 1850 metres and the ski resort of Alpe d'Huez. It's a long day in the mountains with 5,000 metres of climbing and I expected to ride from seven and a half, to eight hours.
My 2004 preparation hadn't been perfect with only one ride over a hundred miles in the Challenge du Dauphine event at the end of May. I'd ridden one other longer ride in April and a few in February, but nothing in June. In total, before the event I had ridden 4,200 kilometres since January, with a lot of regular riding but not many longer distance rides.
I was staying in Alpe d'Huez the evening before the Marmotte, and I was already awake before the alarm thanks to my little daughter. I was feeling tired from not sleeping well, and after breakfast, I was offered a lift down to the valley which I took. I didn't regret it as the temperature was a crisp four degrees in the ski resort, and I would have chilled on the run down to the valley.
Bourg d'Oisans was busy with cyclists preparing for the day. I setup my bike on the bridge at the foot of Alpe d'Huez. The organisers had moved the start which caused a little confusion for a lot of riders who were expecting to start queueing up in the supermarket carpark. The start this year was just across the road, and the front group were starting in the main square in the centre of the town.
It was a perfect day with dark blue sky, with no clouds to be seen and not a breath of wind. My start number meant I could start in the front group of 400 riders. As usual, the group was made up of different nationalities with the majority of the front group being made up of Dutch and French riders.
We were off at around seven twenty and I immediately worked hard to get myself near the front. The bunch was rolling along at over 40 kilometres an hour and the group felt relatively controlled. There thankfully wasn't the constant need for braking and accelerating that I'd experienced in the past when riding these early kilometres of the Marmotte. I rode at the side of the group, near the edge of the road as seemed it was easier to move up the pack here. As we approached the dam in Allemont there were about fifty riders in front of me. By the first of the two hairpins on the dam, I'd moved up the group, and by the second hairpin, I was the eighth cyclist in line.
There was a 90 degree left turn after the road crossed the dam above Allemont, and I saw the cyclist riding at the front ease off. I came through on his left and felt happy that I could now say I'd led the Marmotte. After about 30 seconds, I turned around to see if somebody would come through and found myself alone. I was about 50 metres in front of the bunch, and had 5,850 cyclists behind me. For the next kilometre and a half, I kept a reasonable pace riding my own before riders started to overtake me after the electricity station and the turning for Vaujany.
As soon as we hit the Croix de Fer, I went for my smaller gears. I'd ridden the Croix de Fer in May so the climb was still relatively fresh in my mind and I knew that it would be tough for the first half of the 26 kilometres to the summit, and then ease off and get easier before the Col. I expected to be overtaken for most of the climb, but after four kilometres, things settled down and I felt quite comfortable climbing with the cyclists around me. I soon found myself around two guys from the Grenoble club, Voiron, and rode with them.
The sun wasn't high enough to be touching the valley floor, and the technical descent after the hamlet of Rivier d'Allemont felt cool for the two kilometres of descending. The road then started climbing again and the steepest section of the Croix de Fer followed. The 12 percent gradient felt tough, but my 27 sprocket helped me spin up. I felt better as the gradient eased as we climbed up towards the next dam. There was new tarmac on the road and the smooth surface helped the group keep a brisk pace. I sat in the middle of a small group, happy to shelter and let other riders do the work. The road dropped down for the final small descent before the last section of climbing to the Col.
My group splintered on the last four kilometres and I could see a large group of riders was riding just ahead of me on the Croix de Fer. I could not however, find the legs to catch them. The junction for the Col du Glandon was busy with a crowd ready to give bottles their respective riders.
I didn't stop at the 2067 metre Col de la Croix de Fer but continued over the top. I checked with a fellow cyclist and we'd logged one hour and 45 minutes from the departure to get to the first mountain pass. I lost a few metres to the riders around me while I tried to get my sunglasses on, and then had to concentrate on getting back with them. It was quickly obvious who the faster descenders were and soon after the village of St Sorlin d'Arves, I found myself with two other cyclists after passing a number of slower riders. We worked together and caught a small group before the first of the two small uphill sections on the 30 kilometre descent of the Croix de Fer.
My group soon splintered on the final third of the descent when descending the most technical part of the Croix de Fer. The road was steepest here with long straight sections and then frequent hairpins. I logged over a hundred kilometres an hour on this section last year and the speed felt comparable in 2004. I continued to descend as fast as was safely possible, and at the edge of St Jean de Maurienne, the three of us caught the large group that had been a few hundreds metres ahead of me at the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer.
For the next 12 kilometres, the road sits in the bottom of the Maurienne valley and gradually climbs up the valley to St Michel de Maurienne. I sat in the middle of a group of around 20 riders which included the two guys from Voiron. There were three riders who were happy to take turns on the front and I was happy to sit behind and save my legs. With around three kilometres to St Michel de Maurienne, did I come to the front to do a turn. We were now enjoying a warm morning with the sunshine lighting up a beautiful mountain view with peaks towering above the road.
The village of St Michel de Maurienne
had a good crowd giving encouragement at the foot of the Telegraphe. Numerous
cars were also parked on the roadside with friends and family of riders ready
to hand out drinks. I was on my own and would have to wait until the feedstation
after Valloire.
I always find the first few kilometres of the Telegraphe to feel steep. I
don't know if it is because it's the first real climbing since the Croix de
Fer, but I always suffer here. I found myself drifting off the back of the
group in the first kilometre. Although I felt fine, I just couldn't keep the
same speed of the cyclists with whom I had ridden in the valley. Everybody
seemed to be overtaking me and the 12 kilometre climb to the 1,566 metre Col
du Telegraphe continued like this. Even after the gradient had eased to around
six and seven percent, I dug in and turned my legs but I was still passed
by numerous cyclists. The weather was warming up and I took off my helmet
and attached it to my handlebars which then allowed sweat to run down my face
and sting my eyes.
Over the last kilometre the view opened up to allow me to see the village of St Michel de Maurienne nestled in the valley below. I could also see sections of the Col du Telegraphe below where the cyclists looked like ants on the road.
The five kilometre descent to the ski resort of Valloire gave me the opportunity to finish the food that was in my pockets. It was only a few kilometres to my first feed of the Marmotte, and I could then stock up on food for the Col du Galibier.
Valloire was busy with a quad bike festival. The festival seemed to have grown more than in previous years with caravans and vans parked everywhere, and also taking up the area where the Marmotte feedstop had been placed in previous years. The feed stop had moved to a new location just outside the hamlet of les Verneys. There were two parts to the feed, with some of the cyclists were missing the food part as it was just off to the right and hidden from immediate view. I spent a few minutes eating and stuffing food into my pockets to get ready for the ascent.
The next seven kilometres were the toughest of the Galibier for me. The road follows the left side of the valley at gradients between seven and eight percent, with a seemingly endless mountainside to climb. In places it was possible to see the road for the next kilometre and I found this mentally tough as this section just seemed to drag on.
The Col du Galibier really starts after Plan Lachet when the gradient steepens up. I stopped on the long hairpin bend at the water station and filled my bottle before carrying on. The gradient was noticibly harder now, but I didn't stop all the way to the Col. I tried to keep a speed that felt comfortable and that would allow me to spin my legs. There were beautiful views in every direction, and I could see the Col from a long way out with cyclists getting smaller and smaller the nearer to the Col they were. With two kilometres to the summit, a father and daughter were getting into the party spirit by shouting at the cyclists and by writing numbers on a large chalkboard. I passed through around 390, and I was passed by numerous other cyclists before the Col. I think that I reached the Col du Galibier around 415th place.
The last kilometre of the Galibier is the steepest, and I said hello to Cyrille, a photographer from the Photo Breton shop in Alpe d'Huez, as he took my photo. At the 2646 metre Col du Galibier, I stopped at the feedstation and took some liquid food as well as grabbing something to eat for the descent.
I felt tired on the descent and went through a bad patch on the eight kilometres descending from the Galibier to the 2058 metre Col du Lautaret. In my head I was ready to give up in Bourg d'Oisans, call my wife to pick me up from the bottom of the climb. I didn't feel as though I would be able to make it up the last 14 kilometres to Alpe d'Huez.
When I turned onto the descent of the Col du Lautaret, I turned into a strong headwind. It was here that I noticed that my new carbon frame felt great on the bad road. Most of the vibrations were being absorbed, and I hadn't felt such a diffence since I had moved to use 23 mm tyres from 20 mm. A group quickly formed but the group didn't work together and after another ten kilometres we were joined from a group behind.
The Lautaret took us through tunnels and wound it's down to the Barrage du Chambon. Suprisingly, even though it seems that we were not working hard, our group caught the next group on the road.
On the flat road before Bourg d'Oisans, I spoke with a rider from Valence who had finished in a similar time to me last year. We must have been cycling around each other in 2003, and we were again riding together in 2004.
As we turned off the main road and joined the road to Alpe d'Huez, a large group of people were clapping and cheering the cyclists. It always feels such an emotional moment as the goal is in sight. I kept my rhythm steady for the first six hairpins. I knew it would be steep but it was the heat that hit me. Not for the first time today, sweat started to pour down my head and ran into my eyes causing them to sting. There were regular groups of spectators on the roadside shouting encouragement at the passing cyclists.
I passed one of the Voiron riders about halfway up Alpe d'Huez. His legs had lost their energy and he was weaving his way up the road. I kept my steady pace and I still felt good on the climb and I passed more cyclists than I had done all day.
As I approached hairpin five, with four kilometres still to race, I could feel the strength starting to fade in my legs. I was sure that the guys that I had just overtaken were now coming back at me. I knew I was nearly home and I just hoped that my legs could hang on but I continued to catch cyclists. A headwind was blowing between hairpin five and four, and then again between two and one, but this did mean I had a tailwind from hairpin one that pushed us up to the village.
As I crested the rise into Alpe d'Huez, I checked behind to see how much of an effort I would need to make to stay ahead of the riders behind me. I had a gap and I was riding with one other cyclist. As soon as I had ridden past him, he rode past me. My legs were shattered and I sat on his wheel for a few hundred metres before I told him that he didn't need to sprint, he would finish before me.
I crossed the line in 329th place, and in seven hours and 45 minutes. This was within a minute of my time in 2003. The 2004 Marmotte had probably been the easiest of all the Marmotte's I had ridden. The first and final climbs had been great, and it was satisfying to be able to ride Alpe d'Huez after 160 kilometres and nearly 4,000 metres of climbing, and to still have a fresh head and pass around 90 riders.
The record for the Marmotte had been broken again this year by the Italian rider, Luca de Poali. de Poali had finished the course in an astonishing six hours and three minutes. De Paolo was an ex-Mercatone Uno teammate of Marco Pantaini and was serving a ban from racing as he had been caught doping. After reading all the news on drugs and cycling, now even my cycling was being affected.
