The Étape can be logistically challenging to do as an event but this year it was particularly complex as the start and finish were a 2 hour drive apart so the main accommodation options are to stay at one or other and either have a transfer before or after the event to deal with. As a result of all the many and varied logistical challenges I had thrown at me in the lead up, including a cancelled flight and easyJet not having space on the new flight for my bike, meant I was still working out how to get my bike to me in time for the start right up until the day before the event. On a positive, it did mean I hadn’t really had any time to devote to worrying about whether I was really able to undertake this physical challenge and I think that was for the best.

A big mistake I made was going to a race briefing the evening before the event. It scared the shit out of me. Some guy was talking about what percentage of ftp power or heart rate zones you should be doing each of the climbs in. As I don’t understand or use either I felt like I was at the wrong event. Then this guy went on to say how hard this Etape was going to be in the heat and how people shouldn’t forget to drink water. So all in all that was pointless.

Race day started with my alarm going off at 2.30am for a 3.10am transfer down to Briancon for 5.30am before the road closures kicked in. Start was at 7.15am as I was in the second wave. No clue how I managed that but this was one of the best bits of luck as it meant I didn’t have to hang around for hours in the cold (it was 3 degrees at this point). And I got a bit more of the ride done before the sun was fully up. Temperatures quickly rose to the 30s, to stay at about 37-38 degrees for the second and third climbs.

So to the route and the riding.. 

First climb kicked in pretty early – the Galibier. 23km at an average gradient of 5.1%. The descent was rapid. I’m a dreadful descender but I was still managing to go as fast as I could without feeling like I was going to die. I took this as a positive even though I was being overtaken by probably everyone I had overtaken on the way up.

Second climb – Croix de Fer. This one was tougher. 29km at an average gradient of 5.2% and by this point it was really hot. The climb was spectacular and relentless in equal measure. If there were just a few metres of shade from any trees falling on the road, everyone manoeuvred to the other side of the road to escape the sun for a few seconds. All etiquette of cycling on the right and overtaking on the left had gone out the window.

The top of the Croix de Fer would have been a good place for the Étape to finish. Most people were properly knackered by then. But no, we had another descent, a welcome flat section into Briancon then the Alpe d’Huez climb began. 13.8km with 21 hairpins at an average gradient of 8.1%. This is hard as climbs go but after 151km and 3300m climbing already done and in searing heat, it was brutal. Generally people that do the Etape are very fit, experienced cyclists but this broke people. People were throwing up, passing out and walking up this climb. It was all I could do to just keep pedalling. At this point it really was a war of attrition. When on the previous two climbs French guys were encouraging me with “Bravos” and the odd Brit would see my race bib (which had your name and country flag) and say something about it being hot, now on this climb, people were totally silent. All you could hear were the clicking of bottom brackets, rattling of chains and the clanking of people walking up the tarmac in their cleats. It was savage. I doubt very much that anyone was working to heart rate zones and percentages of ftp…

It was horrendous but there were also some amazing aspects to this event. As well as truly spectacular scenery there was the amazing support of people on the route. I was able to appreciate at the time, mainly in the first half, that it was a privilege to be there, in that location, riding up and down those iconic mountains that the cycling greats had all conquered in a fraction of the time I was managing. I was given so much encouragement by the spectators just for being a woman on a bike!  In many spots local people were out continuously refilling bottles from mountain streams along the route and throwing ice cold water over fading cyclists. I think the man that tipped a whole watering can full of freezing water over me half way up Alpe d’Huez may just have been the reason I made it to the end. At the time it did make me swear very loudly, but after shouting an apology followed by repeated thank yous in French, everyone was cheering me on very vociferously.

The finish was through the village of Alpe d’Huez. The gradient had eased off a bit just to climb a little more again in the final 100m where there was a barrage of noise from all the spectators lining the finishing straight. I crossed the line 9 hours 25 minutes after starting and I am not entirely sure I could have managed 9 hours and 26 minutes. I was done in. It was by far the hardest sporting event I’ve ever done. Just the combination of the distance 167km, the lengths and relentlessness of the climbs (4391m total ascent) and the heat.