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The 2005 Etape du Tour and then some... The 2005 Étape du Tour and then some... ride took us from Provence to Pau in the Pyrenees, through the heart of the Midi. We stayed on rolling terrain and saved the real mountain stage for the Étape du Tour itself, saving our legs and making sure we were optimally prepared to ride for a great result at the Étape!
Day 1 Our trip started in Nimes, in the shadow of Mont Ventoux, and wound its way SW along the valley of the Orb river to Olargues, a picturesque fortified town set in a strategic bend in the river. Day 2 On the second day, we rode from Olorgues past Carcassone into the foothills of the Pyrenees, through the heart of the famous Minervois wine region. Day 3 Our third day on the road took us past the famous medieval city of Carcassonne and to the Chateau de Camon, which has since become a favourite destination of ours - we revisited in 2007's trip! Here the Granache was exceedingly excellent!
Day 4 Leaving the Chateau behind was dificult, but our trip was about cycling and not beautiful waitresses serving excellent wine. Waitaminute...in fact, it IS about that too, but there was another one waiting in the next town. Today we worked off the after effects of the Granache via the col de la Porte, a Category 1 climb over 12km just outside of Foix. Incredible scenery through the foothills of the Pyrenees kept us engaged all day and it was with weary limbs and happy hearts we arrived at our hotel that evening, at the end of the longest day of the trip. Day 5 Rest day in Oloron. Day 6 - The Etape du Tour Today's race saw the best result of any of us thus far in the Etape du Tour -- a 13th overall by Tours de France operator Marc. Likewise, four riders in the group placed in the top 300 out of the 8500 starters. Not too shabby on the heels of our 600km week of riding! Below a description of the route. And that was it, 820km spanning six unforgettable days through the south of France, our own mini Tour de France complete with a race on one of that year's stages with 8500 other participants, some memorable wines, and of course many terrific people and new friends. That's what we're about at toursdefrance.com! The Route of the 2005 Étape du Tour The 2005 Etape du Tour route was a typical example of the Etape du Tour's route: Generally over the most difficult mountain stage of that year's Tour de France! This year it was 178km from Mourenx to Pau via the col de l'Ichère, col de Marie Blanque, col de l'Aubisque and col du Souloir. Overall Route The route started in Mourenx and finished in Pau. The cols are marked by yellow circles and are in order:
Here's the gradient profile from 2005's Etape du Tour:
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