FRIDAY JULY 27TH
STAGE SIXTEEN
ORTHEZ TO GOURETTE, COL D'AUBISQUE, 218.5 km
FOR the second time in a couple of days, I made an attempted comeback at the
Tour today but, sadly, the end result was the same as last time.
Quite frankly, I picked the wrong day to get back on the bike, even though I
had to give it a go. I still had a pain in my chest but I know from my sporting
days that the sort of infection I have had can often leave scar tissue so my
hope was that if I could break that down I might have a chance of completing the
ride.
I have got rid of the sharp stabbing pain in my chest but the constant
problem of not being able to fill my lung capacity fully began to wear me down
-especially on the first climb of the day, the Port de Larrau.
My memory might be dulled from two years ago but I certainly can't ever
remember riding up anything as steep as this. Not even the Marie Blanque - which
the lads went on to climb later on this day - was as tough as the Larrau. The
Marie Blanque ramps up and is stupidly steep at the end, but only for 4 km or
so. The Larrau got as steep as18 per cent in parts, according to Pete's Garmin
computer, and went on for 15 km.
We had had breakfast in our hotel on the rest day with two proper Tour
riders, Bradley Wiggins and David Millar, and they had described this climb as a
"brick wall." It was a perfect description.
In fact, David hadn't done much to help the boys' morale on the rest day. He
had ridden this route with the main group of Tour riders in well over seven
hours - a very long time for a Tour stage and a true indication of how tough the
day was going to be.
That first climb pretty much did for me, though. It took me an age to crawl
up and it proved to me that I have done myself some damage. As it is, I want to
be able to ride into Paris with the rest of the guys on Tuesday because, as I
have said many times before, this year's Tour is all about them and my main aim
is making sure they get to the finish line in good health and good humour.
I went on to ride the best part of a 100 km over the rest of the stage but by
the second major climb - the Col de la Pierre Saint Martin - it was obvious I
couldn't go on and I was in the Land Rover helping the superb support crew in
their work.
Incidentally, in case you see photos of me on this - or any other - climb
during the Tour, you may notice that I'm not wearing a helmet. I'll take this
opportunity to point out that I am fiercely pro-helmet - especially given the
quality of those we have been given by our sponsors Spuik. But, as I think I
pointed out a couple of years ago, I need every psychological edge I can get on
these mountains and not wearing a helmet helps me. In any case, believe me when
I tell you that I'm going so slowly up the hills that there would be no danger
of me sustaining an injury even if I did fall off!
Before then, we had been joined by a couple of friends from back home in
England - Pete and Ruth, from Bromsgrove, who are on a three-week cycling
holiday over here and arranged to meet up with us about 50 km into the ride.
They are on a tandem so the addition of the two of them made for an interesting
sight as Team Thomas headed, for a few brief kilometres, into Spain, the fourth
country we have ridden in on this Tour.
For some reason, the presence of a woman rider in our peloton seemed to
inspire Griz today because his climbing over the first few cols was
unbelievable! I don't want to make anything of the fact that Ruth being with us
saw him ride like a pro and I'm sure it's just coincidence but, it should be
pointed out, that when Phil and Ruth turned left just before the Marie Blanque
and we turned right for the climb, the old Griz came back!
Getting up the Marie Blanque in a Land Rover was a heck of a lot easier than
it was riding up it two years ago. I remember every pedal stroke of getting up
this beast from two years ago, especially the last corner because my riding
partner had wound me up that day by telling me there was still a kilometre to
go. When I realised we had turned the corner and were nearly at the top, well,
the relief was incredible.
The Aubisque rounded off this day, and we rode up there two years ago, also.
I remember that being a superb climb as we rode above the cloud line and had
some spectacular views of the Pyrenees. Sadly, it was so late in the day this
time and very cloudy, so the visibility at the top was non-existent.
Still, I was delighted to see all the lads reach the top - especially Griz
who had announced, The Old Griz is back! just as his climbing legs deserted him
at the foot of the Marie Blanque.
The other lads were in great form, too. Dave Grainger got up there with a big
smile on his face, as he seems to have on every climb we've done, and I loved
watching Steve Timmins climb the Aubisque. He rode it as if he had a vendetta
against the mountain and really tore it up, sprinting out of the village of
Gourette for the last 5 km to the finish.
All in all, it was a day from which I could take satisfaction, even though I
was disappointed that my injury has not yet cleared. I also heard from home that
we are getting some decent publicity from our exploits, some of it on the back
of the drug problems that have dogged the Tour proper.
A lot of attention is being drawn to the achievements of the lads out here
who are on nothing more performance-enhancing than Dave Grainger's pots of
custard!
I'm proud of all their efforts and hope they help raise awareness for the
Foundation and what we are trying to achieve.
