The First Day Is Always the Worst - Part Four

Today was the day.

This was what our entire trip had been built around.

When I asked Leo what he wanted to do after his exams, his only request was to cycle up some mountains in France and see the Tour de France.

As soon as I looked at the race route, one stage immediately stood out.

The Col du Tourmalet.

No other mountain has featured more often in Tour de France history.

It was first introduced to the race in 1910 when French cyclist Octave Lapize famously shouted at the race organisers, ‘Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!’ (‘You are murderers! Yes, murderers!’). Admittedly, he was riding a single-speed bike, so it’s no surprise he had to get off and walk some parts of the climb.

Despite that, he went on to win the Tour, and those “murderers” have included the Tourmalet another 91 times since.

Argelès-Gazost, where we were staying, was about 20km from the foot of the climb and I spent ages trying to work out the best way for us to cycle up the Tourmalet and watch the Tour de France. It wasn’t a summit finish, meaning the riders would just be passing through – cycling up and over the mountain and then finishing at the top of another nearby peak.

It made sense to try and make our ride into a loop. It would increase the distance to about 65 miles – twice as far as Leo had ever cycled – but it also meant we’d get to experience both sides of the Col du Tourmalet.

I’d packed a bag of essential supplies – crisps and Haribo – and we set off from Argelès-Gazost at 8am.