Climbed with fresh legs the Col de Cormet de Roseland at 1968m took
most of the team between one and a half and two hours to ascend. For
those who could raise their gaze from the tarmac in front, spirits were
lifted by a picture postcard view of Mont Blanc only to be dampened
by the prospect of the road zig-zagging up the rock wall ahead. With
speeds reaching up to 50 mph on the descent and many hairpin bends to
negotiate, coming down the other side was as hard on the hands using
the brakes as the ascent had been on the legs.
Although Peter Hubert found the consistent gradient of the Col des Saisies,
rising to 1650m, suited his legs, others preferred to describe it as
unremitting. At this point Malcolm Armes began to suffer but was sustained
by the encouragement of the crowds lining the road.
On the Col des Aravis Peter Du Val suffered from a bad attack of agonising
cramp, something that undoubtedly slowed his progress as he had to stop
several times to stretch. Robert York meanwhile had begun to realise
the enormity of the challenge and adopted the strategy of having a long
rest at the feeding station at the top of each col and making sure he
ate and drank sufficient.
The last 3km of the Col de la Colombiere by common consent were considered
the hardest but if you could make the summit at 1618m you knew that
there was only the 20km descent to the finish. And what a descent; steep
with sweeping bends, minimal use of the brakes, just letting the bike
run, very exhilarating.
Dave Jardine was the fastest Jersey rider in a time of 6 hours 30 minutes
closely followed by Peter Hubert 2 minutes later. However, with a total
of nearly 80km of climbing, prior experience of this type of riding
counted, as demonstrated by Helen Goulding finishing 26th in her age
category.
After the finish Peter Hubert commented ‘Nothing anyone had told
me prepared me for just how hard that was, I am in awe of what the professional
riders do!’ For the record, the first professional rider to finish
the stage when the Tour went through, Dario Frigo of the Tacconi Sport
team, did so in 4 hours 2 minutes.
Confidence was high (before the first climb) |
| Rider |
Time |
Position |
Category
Postion |
Standard |
| Dave Jardine |
6:30 |
2130 |
352 |
Silver |
| Peter Hubert |
6:32 |
2258 |
770 |
Silver |
| Trevor Bertram |
7:17 |
3837 |
1324 |
Bronze |
| Phil Ahier |
7:21 |
3961 |
1180 |
Bronze |
| Helen Goulding |
7:26 |
4119 |
26 |
Silver |
| Sam Goulding |
7:26 |
4120 |
1436 |
Bronze |
| Malcolm Armes |
9:05 |
6131 |
1384 |
Bronze |
| Peter Du Val |
9:06 |
6140 |
2069 |
Bronze |
| John Gage |
9:12 |
6212 |
1414 |
Bronze |
| Robert York |
9:44 |
6482 |
2164 |
Bronze |
| Lindsay Walton |
10:22 |
6603 |
56 |
Bronze |
|
