What it's like to ride the Etape du Tour - for the first time...
I’m Hattie Pearson, a radio DJ by day and amateur triathlete/sports junkie at the weekend.
A few months ago after completing my first cycling training camp with Sportive Breaks on their Calpe Training Camp, the team asked me if I was up for doing “The Etape?” I replied nonchalantly “yeah sure, what’s that?” Not realising at the time I’d just committed to riding one of the hardest amateur cycling events on offer…
So with absolutely no knowledge of what to expect but (perhaps?) a naive drive to push myself to do hard things, I signed myself up to the next challenge of riding an actual stage of the Tour de France just two weeks before the professional men will complete the same route. That’s 138km with four BIG climbs, ascending 4600m of elevation, starting in Nice and ending in the mountains at the summit of Col de la Couillole. Now all was left was to get stuck in with training…
As a newcomer to road cycling, having only bought a road bike less than 18 months ago in order to complete an Ironman, I’m a self-confessed clueless rider. The Calpe Training Camp built my confidence in many aspects, giving me an idea of what it’s like to ride in a group/peloton as well as experiencing the types of climbs that might be on the horizon for the Etape.
I arrived in Nice the day before the event. Only a couple of weeks earlier, the race had been brought forward by a day because of the French election, meaning the Etape was now taking place on the Saturday. I’d decided to use Sportive Breaks’ bike rental scheme, rather than travel with my own, alleviating a lot of stress ahead of a big ride. The bike was a Scott Addict and as a similar spec to my Liv Avail at home, I was really pleased with the ease of having the bike already set up for me with minor adjustments needing to be made (saddle post and pedals). Sportive Breaks had a team of helpful mechanics on hand to assist and ensure I was good to go. Once we were set up, we arrived at the hotel, where we had a briefing and I tested out the bike for the first time, before a pasta dinner and an early bedtime before the big day!
Cycling events are generally quite unequal as far as gender representation goes. The female participation of this event was 7% and looking round at the start line it was obvious that there weren’t many women about. I’d love to see more women at the start line believing they can do an event such as this but I do understand that with tight cut-offs for many it simply might not feel achievable. A new initiative for the Etape du Tour this year was a female peloton in the start waves with a female road captain who was guiding, encouraging and supporting other women to ride together.
Not knowing how long the event would take, I’d put myself down for the longest possible time, meaning I was in one of the final pens at back of the pack with an 08:45am start time. As I peddled across the start line I was absolutely buzzing and ready to go. Months of hard work had led up to today! Knowing it was going to be a long, hard day in the saddle I found someone’s wheel and enjoyed the first 3km neutralised start.
By 9am the sun was already beaming down and I knew hydration and keeping on top of nutrition, including electrolytes, would be key to me completing the ride. The first climb – Col de Braus was 10km in distance and a 6.6% increase in altitude – a little amuse bouche some might say! The highlight was cycling past an accordion player on the roadside; it doesn’t get much more French than that!
Up next was the longest climb, Col Turini – over 20.7km at an average of 5.7% and this was when the heat really started to kick in and the hair pin turns felt never-ending. With minimal experience of climbing steep switch-backs, I actually really enjoyed the process of mentally ticking them off one by one in fairly quick succession. After almost two hours, reaching the top of this climb was a very welcome relief and with the Sportive Breaks private feed station I was able to refuel with ice tea, electrolytes, nuts and also reapply a much need layer of suncream! I’d also handed in a feed bag with my own personal supplies which I was able to retrieve at this point, which meant I didn’t need to carry everything with me and there was no need to be fully self-sufficient from the start.
The clock was ticking and we knew we weren’t far off making the 14:30pm cut off at the bottom of the descent so cautiously got down as quickly as we could. Obviously, what goes up must come down and the descents were really spectacular. I loved feeling like I was on a rollercoaster at a theme park twisting and turning through the mountains but gripping hard on the brakes meant sore hands! At the bottom for a couple of kilometres, the gas was on to push onwards to the next climb and this was when a headache started and I started doubting myself.
Luckily a couple of paracetamol did the job and climb 3 (7.5km with 7.1%) actually begun a lot sooner than expected, and for me this climb felt like the hardest and definitely the least enjoyable. I dragged myself out of the hole and got to the top with 20 minutes before the next cut off.
My sole aim of the day was not being swept up by the broom wagon and I hadn’t got this far now to not complete the mission. A can of coke and some marble cake was consumed and before I knew it I felt like a new woman! Caffeine and carbs will win every time.
The final climb was looming ahead and even with a second wind powering me I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. Leaving the hardest climb until last felt particularly brutal, with 15.7km at 7.1% and the last 10km was nothing short of savage. Everyone was in total silence, heads down and there was a sense that digging deep was now the only option. People were dropping like flies with many stopping by the roadside, lying down to take a break or walking in cleats up steep segments to make it to the end.
There were many moments of what felt like delirium throughout the ride, hysterical giggling and some low points but as I hit the flamme rouge (the final 1km marker) I knew I’d done it. Nothing was stopping me now. I had a wave of euphoria and sheer elation. Crossing the finish line is a memory I’ll bank forever, a proper bucket list moment to be cherished. There was laughter and tears. A tough, hot, long day in the saddle but I did it – I’d well and truly earned that medal.
After the finish line, it was a steady descent down to the village of Beuil where we picked up our finish line bags, scoffed our faces at the pasta party and hung out with all the Sportive Breaks customers at the private area whilst awaiting the transfer back to Nice. This was a great opportunity to debrief with other finishers, have a massage, get some grub and toast our achievements with a beer in a warm and comfortable space.
This event is not for the faint hearted but it’s brilliant, beautiful and brutal in equal measure. The Etape du Tour is a bucket list event. Ok I can’t quite call myself a pro cyclist yet, but this experience is the closest you’ll get to feeling like the real thing.
So… what’s next? Maybe just a little lie down before saying yes to something else!
What did I love?
- The scenery
- Feeling like an actual pro cyclist
- The organisation and support form Sportive Breaks
- Closed roads
- The sense of achievement
What didn’t I love?
- The third hill – short but incredibly tough!
- Lack of female riders taking part – it is a great race for women to get involved in
- The mini sausages in the finishers bag (I’m vegetarian)
- The cooling chamois cream I mistakenly bought…
- Walking up stairs the following day!
You can follow Hattie’s adventures here: @hattiepearson
