It’s very nasty. I think they should take it out. It’s a violation of our human rights. I love it.
Lance Armstrong about the Plateau-de-Beille in 2004
One of the great things about the BikeStyle VIP tours is that you get the chance to ride a stage of the Tour de France on the day that the Tour rides the stage. So, as you ride you get a sense of what the Tour de France is really like — what tv doesn’t quite capture — the pain of the climbs!, the wildness of the mountains, the exhilaration of the downhills, the roar of the people crowding the side of the road, and the satisfaction of finishing.
The BikeStyle Tours VIP riders (and the support crew with 2 cars) were up before dawn to ride Stage 14 of the 2007 Tour de France. I wasn’t as brave/crazy as the BikeStyle VIP riders and decided to ‘help’ Lawrie in one of the support vehicles (so generous of me!). One of the group, Ryan, was riding the longer route and the rest rode from the start of the Col de Pailhères (there was no short route today - both rides took in both the HC climbs!).
The Mazamet to Plateau-de-Beille stage was the first of the Pyrenees stages and was therefore very important for the GC contenders. The mountain climbers had to strike here or risk being gobbled up on the flat and in the final time trial.
Lawrie, Lucy, Jessica and I followed Ryan in the BikeStyle-Mobile (cunningly disguised at a mobile home). Ryan was making the ride a special challenge and raising money for a scholarship and had raised about $15,000. Now all he had to do was ride 2 HC climbs and about 100 miles in one day and all before 3pm when the course would be shut down! Meanwhile, I was enjoying a glass of cold coke from the fridge and hoping I could cram in enough calories to make it through a tough day in the comfy seats. It was beautiful driving through the half light of the morning and the vineyards as the sun slowly rose.
The disturbing thing about this ride is that the Pyrenees are always in view even before you reach them — a hulking great mass of granite looming over the flatlands; psychologically that’s tough because you keep saying to yourself ‘I have to ride over that’ or in my case ‘we have to drive a mobile home over that’. The straight roads that wound gently through the vineyards all too quickly gave way to jagged valley roads that zig-zagged between the peaks and cliffs traveling even deeper into the heart of the Pyrenees (perhaps I have been reading too much Joseph Conrad).
Col de Pailhères
The first climb was the Col de Pailhères:
Essential Details:
Col de Pailhères (2001m).
10.6 km, maximum gradient of 10.2%.
The Col de Pailhères as been the seen of some epic battles, not least between Ullrich, Basso and Armstrong in 2005.
This was my first real view of what a Pyrenees mountain stage was actually like. The scenery was challenging and the climbing was breathtaking (perhaps that should be the other way around). Although dawn had reached the plains around Carcassonne hours ago in these steep sided valleys the sun was just appearing over the peaks. It made for some spectacular scenery but I doubt Ryan and the other BikeStyle riders were really appreciating it. Towards the top of the Col de Pailhères the road thins down to a single lane and it’s difficult to pass a car through all the switchback corners and straights crowded with people. 
Caravans and mobile homes from all corners of Europe seem drawn to the Pyrenees like iron fillings to a magnet; pink T-mobile supporters (it’s Magenta they cry), bright orange Basque supporters, patient French hoping against hope for an unlikely French victory and crazy Australians carrying inflatable kangaroos. Most had been camped for hours (and perhaps days) and were tramping up the mountain to get the top or anxiously deciding the best place to stand or in the case of the more settled retired Germans whether to have another cup of coffee and Danish. Speaking of the Danes, Rasmussen’s amazing riding and even more amazing ability to stay upright on a timetrial bike the day before meant that the hill was covered in excitable Danes deciding where Rasmussen would make his move. It was a step difficult ride and quite chilly (it must have been a cold evening for those camped out on the bare mountainsides). The top of the mountain is grass and the sight of ski lifts and runs on the adjacent mountains gives an indication of the altitude. After the peak, there are often fans waiting with newspapers for the riders to put down their jerseys to keep them warm… although I forgot to bring a newspaper for any of the BikeStyle riders they all said they loved the next bit of the stage. The route took us steadily down for about 20km on nice smooth serpentine roads; a real joy to ride (I should have brought my bike along for this bit of the stage alone). But, what goes down must go up…
Plateau de Beille
The finish at Plateau-de-Beille is an amazing finish won by Lance Armstrong the last two time the tour has finished here. The climb is 17.9km at 7.9% and at the end of a long day should be quite a trial. If you want an idea of the finish have a look a video fly through of the finish Warning 16.8MB. The last finish in 2004 it was Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso shoulder to shoulder through the Basque crowds. Lance sprinted in the last 100m and won.
I remember watching the climb on TV but it doesn’t really capture what it’s like to ride it (even in a car) on the day of the tour. For one thing the crowds are amazing, for the whole 18km there are people lining the route and the excitement is amazing. It’s odd driving along the route after it has been closed to all traffic except the official Caravan people look expectantly at you — next time Lawrie should bring along some small cheeses or something to throw out at the crowds! The other thing TV doesn’t show is how bloody steep and unrelenting the climb is; until the plateau there are no flat sections and it’s up, up, up. I’m not sure the motor home will ever be the same again — its tiny engine was struggling against the incline the whole way. The third factor was the heat — When I’d stepped out of the Motor Home to get a coffee from the van at the top of the Col de Pailhère it had been quite chilly but on the Plateau de Beille it was baking hot (and we couldn’t even turn the aircon on for fear of the motor home not being able to get up the mountain). I know everyone goes on about how difficult it is to ride two HC climbs in one day but driving around in a motor home all day without aircon was difficult too 
The last three km were special — all the BikeStyle VIP riders met up and they were the only riders allowed on this part of the course, and the crowds were at there thickest cheering us on (though we could have done with out the guy with electric generator-powered air horn). Finally, after at least 2466m of climbing they crossed the actual Tour de france finish line… I felt a sense of accomplishment and I’d just ridden it in a car. I’ve started training for next year, it’d be great to be able to say I’ve climbed the Col de Pailhères and the Plateau de Beille. The BikeStyle VIP riders all got official Tour de France Yellow Jerseys and their photo taken on the Tour de France Podium (No Yellow Jersey for me though, apparently all you get for ‘riding’ the 14th stage of the Tour de France in a motor home is a sore bum!)
We watched the race finish at about the hundred meter mark. Contador came in first at an amazing speed with Rassy on his tail. It was humbling to see how fast they were riding at the end; a real super human effort. Too quick for me to photograph well as they flew past a couple of feet from where we stood on the barrier. We clapped the rest of the riders through (they looked quite dead), watched the podium presentation from just to the right of the stage and then rushed back to the car. Being part of the Tour de France Caravan has its advantages we got in the queue of official vehicles just behind a teacup and ahead of a Ferry and then sped down the Plateau de Beille — the police just waved us along and for about 20 km we were flying along on closed roads, through round-a-bouts and traffic lights. A great way to finish the day, I felt sorry for the thousands of people who would be trying for hours to get off the mountain.
A great day but I was happy to be back in Carcassonne enjoying a beer and a nice big meal.
As it stands Cadel Evans is a minute and fifty three seconds behind Alberto Contado with the Tour de France due to finish on Sunday. It would seem only the time trial in Cognac will give the opportunity for Cadel to make up the time (though the Tour has a way of making people who make predictions look like fools).
So, my prediction? I think the accepted thinking is that Cadel Evans is just a little too far back. But I think Cadel is in really great form and is in the right frame of mind to put in the performance of his career, whereas there is a lot of pressure on Contador and pressure in time trials often results in mistakes and crashes…
To break up the monotony of the flat plain comes a hors category climb: Col de Pailhères (2001m). The Col de Pailhères as been the seen of some epic battles, not least between Ullrich, Basso and Armstrong in 2005. The climb the way we’ll do it is 10.6 km long and has a 
Today all the guides met up at the hotel in Paris and we got all the bikes and equipment ready for the trip. One of our clients Russ Poole is already here, so he got his bike set up and very kindly lent us a hand in our preparation work. Once the dirty stuff was out of the way we headed to the roads of Paris for a little ride… we did the 50km loop that we will be doing with the clients who all arrive tomorrow. A nice loop that takes you very quickly out of Paris and through a couple of small towns, it’s easy to forget the big city of Paris is just off to your right.
The ride ends along a nice bike path that runs along the Charles de Gaulles airport fence. As endless planes take-off and land you seem to ride along side them for a little longer than you would think.
Overall: Cadel Evans, Frank Schleck
Climbers: Patrick Sinkewitz, Manuel Beltran
Sprinter: Thor Hushovd
If Levi is ever to win a Tour this is the year, but that said he always has ONE very bad day, if he can limit his losses on that day things could still go in his favor with a good couple time trials. Cadel Evans is the surest man for a podium in my mind (behind Viny Vinokourov). He’s a good climber and is good at time trials. He can take advantage of a situation and take the race by the horns when he needs to, as opposed to Levi who tends to wait for the race to unfold infront of him. While we are on the subject of Aussies frankly I don’t think Michael Rodgers has what it takes. He had a couple of good years, but… Valverde was full of surprises last year but hasn’t been quite the same this year… so, fully aware that my pick for the top 5 or 10 of this year’s Tour is highly likely to be way off, here goes nothing:
