On paper this looked like the easiest stage of the week; 160km with "only" 2,700m of climbing.
I woke up feeling ok but still nervous, I know there was only this stage to go but in my mind so much could still go wrong, a mechanical or an accident, so I was apprehensive at breakfast
I hadn't been looking at the leader board all week but knew I was somewhere in the middle of the
Pack but moving up the leader board really wasn't why I was doing this event, I was doing it to finish every stage and if I did it within the cut off times then it was a bonus, in any event I never got near to missing any of the cut off times even on the marathon stage and my average speeds each day even surprised me! At the start there was a bit of banter about trying to catch people ahead you in the general classification and I wasn't immune to this as Christian a really nice Swiss guy who I had cycled a lot of the stages with rolled up and said "I'm only just behind you DB so I have you in my sights" he said it with a smile and a pat on the shoulder, now I didn't have a clue how far ahead of him I was and I told myself I really don't care so I said "Christian as long as we both finish within the cut off and safe I will be happy!"
There were 4 climbs to be negotiated before the final climb of the Col de Vence where the race would officially finish the timing, this was at 127km, the first climb was the Col de Corobin 12km @5% I negotiated this ok and sure enough Christian shot off ahead of me and I must admit to thinking that I must keep him in my sights but then sense prevailed and I continued at my own pace, I reasoned that he had done the same thing on a few other stages and I had caught him before the end, I'm not a fast climber but I can climb at a steady pace for a long time. Col de Lecques passed without incident and I started to relax a little and enjoy the scenery. The next climb was the Col de Saint Barnabe an absolutely stunning climb with a dam and a lake half way up, the views were breathtaking and it took my mind off the 10km @4%.
Before I knew it I was on to the Col de Bleine which was only 5km long but had some steep sections, I was making good time and could start to think about actually finishing this incredible event! it was after this climb I was to make my main refuelling stop as they had neutralised the descent because it was deemed too dangerous to time. With about 2km to go I spied The unmistakeable small slim frame of my Swiss friend Christian and I was catching him fast! As I went past I said a friendly "Allez Christian! Not far now! Get on my wheel" he tried to cling on but couldn't "see you at the feed station" I said and continued to the top. At the feed station I met up with another of our crew Noy Hazan a very good Isreali rider and we descended the dangerous Col de Bleine together.
I took it easy on the descent and around 3/4s of the way down a marshal was in the road slowing us down......there had been an accident, as I slowly went round the corner where the ambulance and several medics were I glimpsed the rider motionless in the middle of the bend with a blanket over him, I just couldn't look so I edged past and continued down. ( I later found out he had a broken leg and collarbone but was otherwise ok) it came as a timely reminder that this race wasn't over and anything could happen. Noy & I worked together on the flat 6km section before a nice long descent to the final climb of the day the Col de Vence, the top of which was where the finish line was!
The Col de Vence is the easiest climb we had done all week and I remember someone saying the last 2km are flat. Noy and I rode up it well, no doubt buoyed by the fact that we were going to be finishers of the Haute Route! With 5km to go we came up on 3 riders who appeared to be struggling, I recognised one of them as my mate Ritchie who had stayed at all,the same hotels as me and who had helped me on the marathon stage when I was low on food. "You ok Rich?" I said "No my Di2 has packed up so I've been stuck in one gear for 30km"
This was bad luck for him but I knew he would finish so I said "get on our wheel and we will tow you to the finish, its only 5km and 2 of those are flat" "ok I'll try" he replied, so that's what we did, when it got steep and he struggled we slowed down so that he could cling on and when it flattened out we went at the top speed he could manage in the gear he had, soon we came to the Flamme Rouge, 1km to go! Noy let out a massive yelp and we all cheered! Noy & I crossed the line together with arms around our shoulders and Rich was right behind, we had done it!!!!
I felt nothing but elation and pride, I came to a stop and there were hugs and high fives all around, there were men & women in tears with the emotion of finishing what for the majority of us was the biggest challenge we had ever faced.
We had a 10k. Descent down to the village of Vence where the medal ceremony and lunch was to take place before the procession into Nice.............. Let me tell you that descent was absolute bliss!
It was a great atmosphere in the finish village and we picked up our finishers medals & T- Shirts, we also had a couple of beers to celebrate!
We had to wait a couple of hours for the last finishers to arrive before we were to set off in convoy on closed roads into Nice and along the famous Promenade Anglais where the unofficial finish was, it was also where my wife Nicola was waiting and I couldn't wait to see her!
When we rolled into Nice there were lots of cheers and car horns beeping away and it was great to wave to the crowds lining the side of the road, we then funnelled into the finishing chute and I stood up on my pedals trying to spot Nicola and hoping she would see me above the crowd of other riders.....suddenly I spotted her with her camera trying to get a picture of me crossing the line!
I rode over to her and gave her a big hug! The waves of emotion hit me and I sobbed into her shoulder. I had actually made it.
I was a Haute Route Finisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment