Etape – Modane to L’Alpe d’Huez – 11 July 2011

It’s a sight to behold, 9,500 riders penned up waiting for the starters gun to unleash them onto the Tour de France route, pitting themselves against the pros for a day. Four years ago my view was from the last pen, watching the riders ahead moving through the start gates like sand in an egg

How to plan to ride an Etape

It seemed like a great idea at the time, don’t they all. Arriving home to a freshly delivered email offering the chance to enter the Etape online at a discounted rate, not one stage but two this year. Dexterity, sorry ambidexterity reigned and I entered both “Acts” at the discounted rate for the first 3,000

And onto Paris…

Not content, obviously, with just riding a Grand Tour it was a quick one day turn around at home to get ready to ride to Paris. Arriving home on the Tuesday afternoon resulted in a double wash of kit, which had only been hand washed for 3 weeks, trust me a weary cyclist slumped over

Zomegnan gets it…

Nothing to do with my suggestion he becomes a baker, seems the Giro are looking for a new route planner next year and Zomegnan may be off to plan the world champs route. Talking of food I am off to buy one of these… so I can work and eat at the same time. My

Stage 21 Giro Cake – Milan TT: 30km

Weather: dry, sunny, warm Breakfast: 8am, but woke up at 6am, grrr Transfer: 2 hour transfer Ride time: a few hours Visits to Dr Death: 0 Visits to Soigner: 0 Highs: the end of an epic tour Lows: not enough cherries PAULO SHARPONI award: Andy for his support to Gary How does one sum up

Stage 20 Mountaintop Views – Verbania to Sestriere: 249km

Weather: dry, sunny, warm Breakfast: 6:00am, muesli Transfer: hour transfer Ride time: a few hours Visits to Dr Death: 0 Visits to Soigner: 0 Highs: the end of an epic tour Lows: none PAULO SHARPONI award: Gary for his Popovich attack on the final climb Today’s ride was the last massive stage in was has

Stage 19 Tortoises and Hares – Bergamo to Macugnana: 211km

Weather: dry, buckets of water, more buckets of water, overcast Breakfast: 6:00am, muesli Transfer: hour transfer Ride time: a few hours Visits to Dr Death: 0 Visits to Soigner: 0 Highs: Incredible final climb with a million waterfalls Lows: wet, wet, wet PAULO SHARPONI award: Gary for his Popovich attack on the final climb Today’s

Stage 18 Giro Fever – Morbegno to San Pellegrino: 149km

Weather: overcast but mostly dry Breakfast: 7:30am, cornflakes, rolls, cheese, ham and cake Transfer: a half hour transfer to the start Ride time: 7.5 hours Visits to Dr Death: 0 Visits to Soigner: 0 Highs: Everything about this ride Lows: no navigational deviations PAULO SHARPONI award: Pasqelino our brilliant mechanic It seems quite odd to

Stage 17 When the Pros complain – Feltre to Sondrio: 246km

Weather: Sunny, wet, sunny, wet, wet, wet, wet. Breakfast: 4:30am, 2 rolls Transfer: 2 hour transfer to the start Ride time: a few hours only Visits to Dr Death: 0 Visits to Soigner: 0 Highs: More incredible views Lows: 5 hours sleep PAULO SHARPONI award: Pitsy for getting back on the bike When we were

Stage 15 The Queen Stage – Conegliano to Gardeccia: 230km

Weather: Warm and dry. Breakfast: 6:30am, muesli, rolls and anything else I could stuff in Transfer: no transfer, ride out from the hotel Ride time: 13 hours Visits to Dr Death: 0 Visits to Soigner: 0 Highs: The Cima Coppi Lows: the Cima Coppi PAULO SHARPONI award: oops I’ve lost track, sorry! 6,500 meters of