A close up of the first 80km reveals it's not so flat. There's 3 small climbs to break up the rhythm. The first is a short sharp climb just outside Rebenac. It's only 400m at 7%, but enough to split some groups. The second is a longer climb up to Labatmale. It's about 3km at 5%. Nothing too difficult, but probably the first point to find my own pace and start to settle in for the long day ahead. After the first feed stop of the day, the third short climb comes at Loucrop. About 1.5km at 6%. By this point we'll have covered 80km. The cutoff will be 3h18 which is an average of 24.4kph. Not slow.
Section 2) The Tourmalet
Once over Loucrop, we'll start the ascent of the Tourmalet. In total it's 1750m of climbing over 39km. It starts with a long more gradual climb to Campan. 22km at 2-3%. Then we start on the mountain proper.
17.2km at 7.4%. It's a very steady climb, maximum is little over 10%. For some reason the second feed stop is at La Mongie which is 3km from the summit.
There's no time spare for walking, but I do like this picture of Octave Lapize (the eventual winner of the Tour De France) walking up the Tourmalet in 1910.
By the summit it'll be starting to hurt, but there's great view and an incredible 35km descent.
Section 3) Hautacam
Finally onto the Hautacam. On paper a slightly easier climb then the Tourmalet, but with 155km and somewhere not far short of 3000m of climbing in legs, it will be very hard. It's a much more unpredictable climb. A couple of short descents and longer sections of over 13%.
In total it's 15.3km at 7.2%. The final significant cutoff will come at Artalens, 9km from the summit. Need to be there within 8h15 which is an average of 19.4kph. Then try to keep the legs turning till finish.
- 169km / 105 miles- 3800-4100m / 12,500-13,500ft
- 10h00 - 16.9kph avg
