Stage 3 (Monday): Puncheurs! On your marks….

Need to sleep :) 

Pictures below in the meantime. 

Note the picture of the yellow-striped cap. On each stage someone is awarded the yellow-striped cap for a noteworthy achievement. Today my team nominated me for all the pulling I did on Stage 3, and I won!!!

Another great day. What an unbelievably beautiful country!

Notes on today’s ride:

The route of the Tour de France’s 3rd stage runs on flat roads leading to a hilly finale for ‘puncheurs’ (a Frenglish name given to a road bike racers who specialize in rolling terrain with short, but steep, climbs.)

The last 50 kilometres of Stage 3 feature a series of sharp climbs…

• At 173km into our ride we reached Cote De Nanteuil-La-Foret. This is where we climbed our first real hill. It’s 1.1km long with a grade of 6.8% (category 4). Three more climbs to go at this point.
  (Category 1 hills are the hardest, if you’re not familiar with the nomenclature.)

• Second climb of the day was a category 3 at Cote D’hautvillers – a 1km long, 10.5% grade at 185km into our ride.
• Third climb was also a category 3, at 190km into the ride, and is almost 2km long with a 6.6% grade.
• Fourth and last climb was a killer 12.2% grade for 1km.

This really is the land of bicycles :)

Hotel Suggestion Box: Elevators?

Happy Canada Day everyone!