Roland's Tour Report

PECH, PLEITEN AND PANNEN and yet a conciliatory finish. A day that came other than I thought …

Today that should be again such a mountain stage and it became again 205 km and 3,617 meters of altitude, but they are the last mountains, which gave me motivation at the end, because today I was not as good as yesterday.

I really did it, climbed these 4 mountains. I was at the Col de Ornon (1371m), Col de la Croix de Fer (2067m), the Col de Telegraph (1566m) and the Col de Galibier (2642m), one after the other, in a single day. This was my best day ever in the mountains. Never before have I shown this performance in the mountains. 4,600 meters of altitude and 206 km flew by in a flash and it was never difficult, never exhausting.

After the rest day there was again a somewhat “relaxed” stage to drive. Which for us means 168 km and 2,000 hm. The morning up, in the afternoon down into the Rhone Valley. And shortly after the start our constant companion came back, the rain …

Today is flat stage said Beat yesterday and meant he would stay in bed all day. Indeed, finally sleep in, no transfer and 2 nights in the same hotel and even a bathtub, a luxury.

So if there is upsetting and resurrecting, then it was my up and down today. Whereas it actually started pretty easy and as always, had I not made a crucial mistake.

It went through wonderfully romantic landscapes, small villages, again much agricultural landscape, gorges and river landscapes. Unfortunately, my phone pictures in this light this morning nix presentable become. At some point then typical French Sunday, people with baguette under the arm, sitting at 8:30 in the cafe, etc..

Even at the Tour de France there are quiet days, quiet in the sense of not far and not high. In real life, however, 180 km and 1800 meters of altitude are certainly not a quiet day. For us, this has been the topic of conversation today, how cool it is to have such a day, hey, logical after more than 2000 km.

Today was about how well I recovered. How do I cope with this renewed load, with these slopes, 18% are actually not made for racing bikes, but for mountain bikers.

What a day, what an experience, what an effort. In the end, my longest day with a summit arrival under a full moon. Do not worry, I arrived after 219km, 4600 hm and just under 14h and I did not use a bus.

WELCOME TO PAU, THE GATEWAY TO THE PYRENEES. My best day today since I’ve been here. A 203 km ride at 28 – 34 degrees through this wonderful area into the suburbs of the Pyrenees.