After a very late arrival at our overnight stop over in Orange (plus a treble course at McDonald's at around 10.30pm (necessity over choice to re-load the calories burnt on Ventoux) crew and rider slept, unsurprisingly, incredibly well! Thank you 'Premier Classe', which is actually the exact opposite to the descritpion!
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| Riding out of Vaison |
Today was the day that we expected to be challenging, not so much for riding the relatively gentler course of Stage 16 but more to do with finally meeting up with, and crossing over the Tour, we weren't to be disappointed!
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| Tour 'Official' |
An early start with a short drive into Vaison la Romaine found the town and Tour in full swing, the whole region seemed to be in town, markets, fairs, Tour carnival, team buses and cars, marshals and organisers, the works, then the fun begins. Trying to stick together to ride and drive out of Vaison following the parcours of Stage 16 proved the biggest challenge so far, support vehicle sent off in one (completely wrong) direction and rider sent off in three different directions (GPS support from the device we relied so heavily on with the bike is a long forgotten thing, more on this when we finish), the Gendarmes don't quite seem to have the controlled support and passion for Tour supporters and riders looking for assistance, just a case of pointing in the most obvious direction. Having ridden an unnecessary 40km in various directions rider and crew were finally re-united to follow a different route of similar length and profile to the Tour route heading towards the town of Serres just beyond the half-way point of the 168km course, a long but fairly gentle ride.
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| The maillot jaune, unforgettable! |
Our luck was in at last, arriving in Serres with 10 minutes to spare we stood alongside the small roundabout in the middle of the town to watch the whole race pass through, leading group, peloton and of course the men in black from Team Sky leading the race leader 'yellow jersey' of Chris Froome, what a sight to see the whole peloton pass through and how great to see another British team and rider leading the way, a very uplifting moment. See the tweeted photo's from earlier, @chrisarmishaw. It was also good to meet other riders from the UK on the roadside, John (Read?) of Colchester Rovers Cycling Club, not far from home in Essex, we'll catch up with him somehow when we get back, nice to meet you John.
The Tour passed through Serres in a matter of minutes, roads re-opening as soon as the last Tour vehicles had passed through, so back on the bike for the last 45 miles to Gap, a gentle ride with only the sting at the end, the Category 2 climb of the Col de Manse with a 500 meter descent straight into Gap, job done.
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| Orcieres, facing into Stage 18! |
Our plan was to also ride the short 20 mile course of tomorrow's Stage 17 time trial from Embrun to Chorges, time didn't permit with the drive up to Orcieres for our overnight stop over. Stage 17 is the first order of the day tomorrow with another very early start followed by what can only be described as a brutally tough Stage 18, from Gap to Alpe d'Huez taking in 172km in distance, 3 Category 2 climbs, 1 Category 3 climb and for the first time in Tour history to celebrate the 100th Tour, Alpe d'Huez (an 'Hors Categorie' - beyond categorisation climb) not once but twice, it should be an incredible challenge and no doubt another very late finish for crew and rider. At least by this time tomorrow we should be on plan to be one day ahead of the Tour as we edge closer and closer to Paris and our plan to meet up on Saturday afternoon with the 500+ riders who will take part in the Action Medical Research London to Paris ride, to ride the last few miles together to the Champs Elysees.
From the crew and rider of Ride 21, supporting Action Medical Research thank you for following our progress. Good luck and safe riding to all 'London to Paris' riders.
www.action.org.uk/tourdefrance
Twitter @chrisarmishaw
''why do it, because it's there''
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