TEAM L'ETAPE ON RACE DAY | THE RESULT

TEAM JOS - NIKE COURAGE PAINTED ON THE GROUND

The L'Etape du Tour and Team JOS - Nike courage achieved last Sunday the cycling goal of the year: we participated on the L'Etape du Tour race in Annecy, France. The race was fantastic and the best of all, the whole team completed the challenge within the elimination time. A great achievement from the whole team! Jos came all the way from Holland with his family to participate in the event and his presence in two points of the race gave everybody a great burst in motivation.

Look after the link how the day went.

13 THOUSAND RIDERS READY FOR THE START

The day started very early with most of us waking up around 4:00 in the morning. We got all dressed very quick, got all the stuff and went to breakfast. It isn't an easy thing to eat at 5:00. Especially after you ate a huge amount of food in the evening before, trying to pack as much energy as possible into your body. But habit makes it easier and all the early morning rides also serve as a training as well. After breakfast we got into the bus at 6:00 for the most nervous little trip of the year to the start line.

In Annecy the usual stuff: get the bike ready and try to find out where is your starting point. The group split up as starting numbers were given by history and more experienced riders started up-front while less experienced riders started further back. To find out your start location is not always easy as other 13 thousand cyclists are trying to do the same. But with enough time, we figured it out quite quickly and after a 40 minute wait we were ready to go t 7:00.

TEAM NIKE READY FOR THE RACE

The race started on a flat 9 kilometers stretch going out of Annecy in the direction of the hills. It was a very quick start with groups of 1 thousand riders being released every 5 minutes. Crossing the closed roads and roundabouts at that speed was trilling and the nervous became focus. The roads are closed for the race and the feel people this early on the sidewalk of an otherwise busy city makes it look even more especial. The temperatures this early in the day were already around 15 to 18 degrees what promised a very warm and sunny day.

Jos waked up early to be in the second roundabout with his wife to see all of us passing and take pictures.

PUGET & LESCHAUX | The first climb of the day were actually two combined hills. The Cote du Puget and Col de Leschaux are a  gentle hill with average of 4% and the two combined have a distance of 14 kms. At this point most riders were doing it at an easy pace to save energy for a long day. Expectations were the most varied. Some wanted to complete under 5 hours, others around 7 hours and some just wanted to complete it under the 11 hours limit. All depending on their level of fitness and experience. This part of the race is when the riders become completely alone as nobody is watching in the sidelines and the silence is only broken by some heavy breathing and the occasional call a gouche/a droite (left and right) when faster riders are taking over.

From the top of Leschaux the race becomes something like riding in South Limburg. Fast and short rolling hills with quick descents and momentum carrying climbs. Huge groups of cyclists are formed in this type of terrain and double attention is really required. There are several groups passing each other with different speeds and the attention to avoid accidents is a must. And this is a good moment to call out another record of this year Etape team: no mechanicals at all during the race and only one flat tire close to the finish. Only two riders had mechanical issues but they were both after the finish.

DES PRES | At 37 kms into the race we started climbing the third climb of the day: Col des Pres. A 14.6 km mountain with very gentle gradients of 3 and 4%. The funny thing is that you don't notice the start of the climb, so gentle it is. You only realize you are already half way thru it when looking at the distance and realized you are close to the last 3 kilometers, which are more difficult, with gradients around 8%. At 52 kilometers a big food station was waiting for the riders with a huge assortment: energy drinks and bars, coca-colas, water, oranges, dried figs, sweets, bananas, cakes, bread and even little cups of wine. Spotless organization on a very beautiful region of France that left many of us thinking in coming back for vacation with the family.

The descent of des Pres was easy and fast. Gentle turns with good visibility and good shade from the sun that was approaching the 30 degrees at this point and baking the skin of everybody. The high temperature and strong sun made the challenge harder, especially for the North Europeans that didn't have a very good summer this year and didn't have a chance to get used to high temperatures.

MONT REVARD | The end of the descent and beginning of the forth climb and longer of the day, Mont Revard, was tricky. The descent of des Pres has a gradient of 8.5%, the riders needed to cross a narrow bridge that was recently re-surfaced and looked very slippery and crossing it at 50 kms/h was a bit scary. But the tricky part came right after the bridge with the start of the climb turning immediately to 9% uphill. Lots of riders were not expecting that and had the wrong gear and the sudden change of pace make it more difficult. Even with some chains being dropped and forcing the riders to stop of fix it manually. Hopefully the reviews and preparations that were given to the team were sufficient to avoid this.

Mont Revard is a especial type of mountain. It is 22 kilometers long with a strecht of 6% gradient at the middle. But that is mis-leading as the gradients keep changing. Although the averages show mostly low numbers, inside each kilometer we faced everything: flat, low gradient and high gradients of 9 %. That imposes a challenge to the rider as it is difficult to find a rhythm for climbing and takes extra energy. But the reward come at the end with a very beautiful mountain summit that visibility to the whole valley around the mountain.

SEMNOZ | After a long 22 kilometers descent and at the village of Quintal the climb of Semnoz start easy. This was the 5th and last climb of the day that very quick it turns into a 15% wall. This start left many scared but it was only 500 meters long for what turned into a long 14 kms climb at average 9%. Lots of riders were struggling in this first piece of the climb and many were walking, being defeated by exhaustion, very steep gradients and the heat. Fortunately the road was covered in long patches of shadown given by the tall trees, which alleviated the sun heat sensation.

Half way thru the mountain was the last water station. And arriving that was an experience for everyone. First because hearing your name shouted by colleagues that completed already and being received by encouraging words is very motivating. Every rider that finished came back to that point to encourage the ones still going thru the race. That camaraderie gives lots of extra energy. We took care of each other as a real team we became, formed in the last months of training and last days of riding and staying together.

Second, Jos was waiting there for us! With a big smile and a great hug to everyone. What an inspiration moment to see him enjoying the race he wanted so much to be in. To be there giving us encouragement and taking care of us was very powerful and emotional for us all and for him as well. To every rider that completed and went back to be side by side with Jos in encouraging the other riders was also a fantastic experience. Every rider was gifted with a elating moment to help finish the job and complete the last 7 kms of steep climbing. In the night before a couple of guys went to the mountain and painted the name of the team on the asfalt with the Nike swoosh and words of encouragement. In thru Tour de France fashion that gave us more motivation.

The good news was that after this point the weather changed slightly and the sun gave way to some soft clouds. The wind became somewhat colder and that all was a welcome change that made the last stretch more bearable. We all finished on time and went back to Annecy to receive our medals! What a great day and a mission well accomplished. The fundraising for the ALS foundation will continue for the next weeks and we will shortly announce the total amount collected by the whole team. A great work everybody and a big thank you for Jos being there with us!!!

TRAINING RIDE