Etape 2009
Comments
-
dmb4 wrote:thanks popette, number is 2215 excellent!
Great number!!! 8)0 -
My first Etape and having done the Etape du Dales at the weekend I'm now really looking forward to July. Bit nervy of course, not entirely sure what to expect, but becoming increasingly confident that I will make it. Does anyone know if we'll have to cover the first 30km in 1 hour? Is this part of the urban myth surrounding the Etape or is it for real? Got my start number and it's in the early 2000s so happy with that.0
-
I think that's a myth. If you look at last years timing on here - http://www.letapedutour.com/2008/ETDT/p ... eraire.htm
it looks as though you had just under 2 hours to get to 30km (assuming you started right at the start).0 -
skiingsimon wrote:Does anyone know if we'll have to cover the first 30km in 1 hour? Is this part of the urban myth surrounding the Etape or is it for real?
I would have asked the same question before my first time last year, but I'd answer now by saying it will be hard NOT to cover the first 30k in 1 hour! With such a huge peloton and the excitement of the day you'll find yourself flying along trying to avoid going too fast.
It's the last hour you need to worry about, not the first
0 -
It was a requirement in 2004 only, I think it was due to the length of that Etape at 238km.0
-
I know nothing of this particular requirement but if you can't cover 30 kms:
- in 1 hour
- on the flat
- freshly hydrated
- on closed roads with no stop lights
- with 1000s of riders around you to draft off
- with your nerves at fever pitch (they can't help but be on the occasion)
you should consider dropping competitive cycling and taking up tiddly-winks as you new sport.
Seriously tho, this is meant as encouragement. Grow a pair and get training and get sportiving. Like most tests or exams, doing practice tests is the best way to prepare. Only in theory is there no difference between practice and theory.When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.0 -
Thanks for the encouragement FransJacques. Just looking for snippets of info cos you never know how the day will turn out. Good shout about tiddly-winks - it's certainly cheaper than cycling!
Been sportiving and have a couple more before the Etape - Chiltern Hilly 100 and Cotswold 100. Both look to be reasonable prep along with other training. At least it looks like the sun will be out this weekend so training could be a whole lot more fun after the recent high winds.0 -
FransJacques wrote:I know nothing of this particular requirement but if you can't cover 30 kms:
- in 1 hour
- on the flat
- freshly hydrated
- on closed roads with no stop lights
- with 1000s of riders around you to draft off
- with your nerves at fever pitch (they can't help but be on the occasion)
you should consider dropping competitive cycling and taking up tiddly-winks as you new sport.
I rode the 2004 Etape for which this was a requirement it has not been the case before or since this event.
It certainly was not a flat 30k and considering the length of the stage that year was not the ideal starting speed for many riders who were cool and unable to warm up with about 230k and several mountains to climb all after 160k of undulating terrain.
Lots of us found the 30k in 1 hour target a challenge and many who did not manage it have continued to enjoy cycling and there are many successful etapists who cannot reach that benchmark and still get much from cycling albeit 'not competitive cycling'.0 -
Ah, i'm glad you picked up on "competitive cycling" I chose that VERY carefully.
First of all, anyway you look at it sportiving is competitive. Plain and simple. It's timed, there are standards, people train for it, people like to go as teams, we put on our best wheels, use our 'best' bikes, we look at the resuts, we peak for it, we work out our hydration strategies, etc. So by any measure conceivable it's comeptitive - against the clock, the course, ourselves, that Col I couldn't climb last year, that Gold time limit, that age group ranking, etc.
All the above has nothing to do with speed. I love it when slow cyclists say, well I ride the etape but i'm not racing anyone or anything. RUBBISH. It's just excuses/justification. And that itself denotes competition!
And so that is the cycling equation. Cycling = 50% cycling + 50% excuses for not cycling to expectation. The best part about the second 50% is you can do it any time - before the ride, during the ride, after the ride, on forums like this... :-) So no one should get hung up on the fact that 30 km/h is a big deal.When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.0 -
I did a full breakdown of the splits/eliminations for last year's Etape. Turned out really useful on the day because I only just made it. Lots of people got eliminated who shouldn't have.
A brief summary from the full itinerary (based on taking 20mins to cross the start - so 10hrs in total)
To Campan (base of Tourmalet) - 103km - 24.3kph avg
Tourmalet 8kph to La Mongie, then 4.7kph to top - 120km - 18kph avg
To Ayros (base of Hautacam) 34.4kph - 155km - 20.2kph avg
Hautacam 9.1kph, then 5.1kph - 169km - 16.9kph avg
The flat sections were much faster than I expected, but the climbs slower.
0 -
FransJacques wrote:All the above has nothing to do with speed. I love it when slow cyclists say, well I ride the etape but i'm not racing anyone or anything. RUBBISH.
Agree totally.
I am that (fat) slow cyclist, and I rode (ALL OF) last years Etape (see, competitive) and I was racing:
The course
The broom wagon
The urge to get off and walk
anyone who looked as if the might, just possibly, be slower than me.
Seriously, though, this year should prove to be an entirely different challenge (which is part of the beauty of the Etape) in that you will hit the first (not so) small Col in the first 14km. If you need to plan your strategy for survival, review the broom wagon itinerary carefully, noting its average speed on each section. This will give you the idea of where you can stay within yourself, and where you need to exert all you've got. Last years itinerary is here http://www.letapedutour.com/2008/ETDT/p ... eraire.htm
and gives an idea.
Note the 6kmh average speed up Tourmalet & Hautacam, compared to about 28kmh on the 'flat'. 6kmh is close to the slowest I can go without getting off (irrespective of the size of the lowest gear) so if you gear up for staying on the bike, you stay ahead of the wagon.
At this point last year, I was obsessing about getting broomed. In the end, I reached the bottom of the Tourmalet further ahead of the wagon than I started, relaxed the whole of the rest of the way, and beat the wagon by well over an hour (and I consider that not bad for a 101kg fat bloke).
Plan ahead from the itinerary, use the groups (where available), relax, enjoy & succeed.
Best of luck (you will need less luck than you think)0 -
Datameister - Your post is one of the most exciting I have read so far. Have been increasingly concerned about power to weight, but as long as there is another 100k+ rider who has made it (over the Tourmalet and up the Hautacam - RESPECT!!!) I am full of faith in my abilities. I am training a lot, and getting big distances in now. Getting nervous, but fear is what drives us on - that and a mega tailwind and preparation - I will be examining the Broomwagon schedule in minute detail. Come on July 20th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!If I can feel the pain in my arse, I mustn't be hurting my legs enough.0
-
If you're doing a UK sportive in preparation for the Etape, my only advice is to over dress.- winter dress, with tin foil perhaps ?? Get as hot as you can because the heat on the Ventoux will be hot.
Yes hot heat- not a warm Medi evening heat but an in your face, back of your neck furnace.
Just thought I might offer a few words of encouragement!!0 -
Unless the weather on the day is bad, like in 2000, in which case it will be freezing.
Seriously, don't forget to pack some winter gear in you luggage as insurance. Just because the ride is in the south of France, it doesn't guarantee perfect conditions.0 -
Except the first 30km of this year's Etape aren't flat. In fact you have 1000ft to climb in the first 15km.
Then after a very fast descent you have a significant section of up hill false flat to a village called Rousset les Vignes at around the 30km mark. 0 -
how long did it take last year/previous years to get all the people over the start line? with my number in the 8000's Im guessing 30mins...shame as could have done with that extra time...0
-
20mins from the back pen in 2007.weeve wrote:how long did it take last year/previous years to get all the people over the start line? with my number in the 8000's Im guessing 30mins...shame as could have done with that extra time...
I would recommend getting to the start early (6:00-6:15) so that you are at the front of your pen.Rich0 -
thanks
just building my bike in the sun here at home (for a few years) in the netherlands ...just need some wheels and we're done.....tragically weight is going to be sacrificed for something black to minimise attention seeking which is bad enough with campag 11 on it...what is it with the biggest companies making their top of the range alu clinchers in red or titanium or gold? Gee I look stupid enough on a bike as it is ...
clearly I should be out training but after a week on dartmoor it feels too flat here ...so no point then;)0 -
[quote="FransJacques"]Ah, i'm glad you picked up on "competitive cycling" I chose that VERY carefully.
So no one should get hung up on the fact that 30 km/h is a big deal.[/quote]
My point was not that sportives were not competitive but that lots of people who get a great deal out of cycling according to your logic should have turned to tiddly winks.
That type of comment seemed typical of those who are quick to dismiss sportives and those who take part as 'not worthy' just because they can't reach a given arbitrary standard. As per recent correspondence in Cycling Weekly regarding so called 'proper cyclists' and those for example who get a real thrill from finishing an event like the etape.0 -
weeve wrote:how long did it take last year/previous years to get all the people over the start line? with my number in the 8000's Im guessing 30mins...shame as could have done with that extra time...
25 mins with an 8,000's start number last year.
That needs factoring into any broom wagon calculations. Realistically if the broom wagon is going to be a genuine threat early on its either because you've had a mechanical/puncture or you've not prepared enough.
Okay you've got a climb early on, but that will be accounted for in the broom wagon timings and its a bit over 5km with an average gradient of less than 4%, so just a leg loosener. If someone can't get over the that climb ahead of the broom (mechanicals excepted) I would expect you wouldnt have wanted or got to Ventoux anyway...
If its any comfort, I've got an almost as bad start number this year in the 7,000s, just use the groups to drag you along.0 -
I had a start number in the mid 7000 last year. And the broom wagon was standing right next to our pen at the start.Not a nice sight ..... I went over the start line about 25 mins after the first starters. The broom wagon doing 17 - 19km/h was never a threat although in the end my average was only 19.5km/h, but a lot of that was the slow drag up the last hill at Hautacam
What I did find a problem is that the later groups had one hill about 20km into the race were we all had to walk up because of sheer traffic and the narrow village road...i lost about 30 min on that which I thought pretty unfair ( I recon the organisors could have allowed for that )
0 -
yeah, there's one of those hills / narrows this year too... see you on the walk up...0
-
Slow1972 wrote:If its any comfort, I've got an almost as bad start number this year in the 7,000s, just use the groups to drag you along.
Still no number for me, but I shall be seeking out your wheel and getting a tow as far as I can..!
RichA makes a good point about getting into the pen early, though they aren't that big, and the pens in front don't clear that fast.
I spent the 2007 edition fretting about the broom wagon all the way (until I climbed off and into it at the top of the Bales). While the broom wagon is perhaps the one thing that marks rthe Étape out from most other sportives, the effect of it can be quite galvanising - use the fact it's always there to motivate yourself to keep making progress all the time.
The route card will give you ideas of where the balai will be at certain key stages - check it at the feed stations to see where you are in relaiton to it. Like slow says, use the groups for a tow when they're available, and get into a steady rhythm on the climbs. Early climbs - even for me as a distinct non-climber - ought to be fine and a good way to make some progress past people in front (without overdoing it, of course).0 -
i've got my number now i'm at 7200 mark
yikes :shock:0 -
Map of waterstops here
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=126266480 -
i'll be wearing the saltire top and a nervous look :shock:0
-
6432. Not so happy, but could be worse.
Anyone seen a schedule for this year? It was out late April last year. Would like to know how long we'll get.
How's everyone's training going? I had a good May (1200km including 5 sportives), but don't seem to have improved much.0
