Orthez - Gourette
As the rain began we knew we were in for a tough day. Sean in particular was a cause for worry. As an ex-prop he doesn’t have the physique of a mountain climber and he freely admits that they are not his strong point. He had given pretty much everything to get through the last two mountain stages and looked to have nothing left for this, the longest mountain stage (infact the 3rd longest of the whole tour).
As the two set out Sean was having trouble finding his rhythym before they had even reached the first, most deadly, climb the Port de Larrau. It was decided that Mick would have to go on ahead and wait for Sean at the summit. By the time they were near the summit it was raining and the wind was so strong that Mick was actually knocked over by it. He got into the van, put some extra layers on and had a hot drink when suddenly Sean shot past. He had dug deep and found some strength from somewhere, infact he did some of his best climbing so far in the trip that day. That was the first climb done and only 3 more to go!
It was then into Spain for a section and up the Col de la Pierre St Martin back into France.
By the time they reached the top of the Marie-Blanque Mick could barely walk and had to be helped into the van for a cold drink. It is a deceptive climb as it is only 9km long, however there are no switchbacks at all so that’s 9km straight up at a rather tasty gradient with no let up in the last 4km which are all over 10 percent gradient. That just left the Col d’Aubisque which is not especially steep, but makes up for that by being especially long. Mick felt he had some unfinished business with that climb after it beat him badly on the Etape in 2005 so he he really dug in and climbed it well, declaring the score now even with that particular col.
By the time they had finished, it was a 14 and a half hour day of riding and food / drying out breaks. All that was needed was some food and a lengthy shower. Unfortunately, as we were unable to find a campsite near the next day’s start point we ended up worrying the locals by setting up camp for the night in someone’s driveway. Hence no shower, hence a van that now reeks, although filling (clean) socks with roadside mint and draping them around the place has helped somewhat!