Participation in the Etape du Tour has become an annual event at team De Ver. In 2007 the event became a full-blown adventure when it was decided to go over to France a week earlier to take in the annual Mountain tour event “Le Marmotte” which took place a week before the Etape.
In all six team members rode in the Etape, Dexter and Maurice took on the Marmotte as well.
For the uninitiated the Marmotte is 175 KM mass participation bike ride that takes in several of the classic climbs of the tour including the “Col de Telegraph” and Alp D’Huez. It is as hard as any tour stage and reputed to be the toughest mass participation road race. The course is a big loop so it starts and finishes at Alp D’Huez,( but you only climb it at the end!).It is a commonly held view that this is the world's toughest single day mass participation road ride. Its much easier to enter than the etape too, and cheaper (40 Euros) so if you feel like a challenge why not join us.

Thursday 5th July 2007 :: The Adventure Begins

Maurice and Dexter drove down to Dover to and caught the cross channel ferry to Calais. From there they drove down to Bourg D’Oisans, the town at the foot of Alp D’Huez. Where they spend the night.

Friday 6th July 2007 :: The tail of the Serpent

Alp D’Huez was just as the boys remembered it, the road winding like some great grey serpent winding to a misty summit.
After breakfast the first port of call was to the registration office to enter the event and pay the 40 Euro entry fee.
The van was parked near the local leisure centre where Maurice was stopped by a middle aged man and asked “You are Burton?”. Bemused, Maurice replied yes. The man revealed that his name was from Ertveld and that he had watched Maurice race in his native Belgium when Maurice raced on the professional 6 Day race circuit.

The pre-event evening was spent at the event pasta party followed by an early night. This is part of Maurice’s tried and tested pre-event routine. An article on this may follow.
Race nutrition and hydration consisted of Honey Stinger bars (Fruit and seed bars with honey), 4 Bananas and enough SIS GO to make 4.5 litres of electrolyte drink.

Saturday 7th July :: The Fangs of the Serpent

The morning was bright and clear, the morning dew scattered the sun’s first light into a frenzied dance of light and colour. High above them peering down from its spiralling coils, the summit of Alp D’Huez.
The ride was organised as a group start. Riders were sent off in groups of about 40 riders. Maurice and Dexter’s group set off at 8am.
Little did he suspect that he would soon feel the fangs of the serpent!
On the first climb at the Col de la Croix de Fer Maurice sustained a puncture. He was equipped with two spare inner tubes and two gas bottles, so after a brief stop he was back on the move. On the descent of the same mountain, the hiss of the serpent filled the air, another puncture. This exhausted all Maurice’s repair resources so when, about 10 KM further on his bike rumbled to a halt with another puncture, he could have been said to have a problem.
A passing cyclist donated an inner tube, which was inflated with a pump borrowed from a motorcyclist (No, Maurice wasn’t carrying a pump.).
A few kilometres further on the serpent bit again, another donated inner tube later and the adventure continued.
Fortunately for our story the feed station provided an additional pair of inner tubes and gas bottles. The serpent consumed these supplies as Maurice sustained two more punctures before the finish. The feed station also provided some much-needed stimulation in the form of coke, which Maurice drank enthusiastically for the caffeine.

The climax of the Marmotte is the ascent of Alp D’Huez. The was arid and the heat haze danced hypnotically over the tarmac. Maurice had been battling cramp and the the heat in the latter stages of the ride. On entering the coils of the serpent all the days challenges seemed to bear down on him. He steeled himself and ground out kilometre after kilometre. Finally when the heat seemed ad if it would fuse him to his bike, he heard the seductive whisper of a mountain stream. The cooling water renewed his resolve, and after a brief dip, he finished the ascent.

Maurice completed the marmot in 9 hours and 36 minutes despite the punctures; this was sufficient for the gold award. A comparison of the bike computer and the heart rate monitor times revealed that the punctures had added about an hour to the ride time.

Marmotte :: The Epilogue

Maurice likened the completion of the Marmotte to the biblical miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Starting with only two spare inner tubes, he battled his way through six punctures to finish the ride in a respectable time.
The number of punctures sustained by Maurice during this ride was a cause for some concern. With the etape coming up in a week, it was critical that the problem should be identified and solved. After some thought and an examination of the Bontrager XXX Lite wheels it was concluded that the carbon rims were retaining heat on the descents, and it was this excessive heating that was causing the punctures.

Sunday 8th July :: Etape 2007

At this point Maurice and Dexter moved on to Foix, the starting point of the Foix to Loudenvielle stage that was to be used for the 2007 etape. Sunday 8th July was the first night in Foix. For safety Maurice and Dexter resolved to eat at MacDonald’s but unable to find it, they sampled the local cuisine. They spent the night at a local camp site about 6KM from Foix. Dexter Slept in a one-man tent, Maurice slept in the van.

Monday 9th July :: The Commandant

Maurice was woken by a tap on the window of his van. The campsite attendant who came to be known affectionately as le commandant came to collect the campsite fees as he had finished before the boy’s arrived the previous night. They paid the fee for the week which was about 50 Euros and got a tour of the facilities which included modern toilets hot water and showers.
That evening Darren arrived with the replacement wheels in hand and the day ended with a MacDonald’s supper.

Tuesday 10th July :: Testing 1-2-3

With new wheels fitted Maurice was keen to for a test ride, The three riders agreed to a trip up the Col De Porte, which was to be the first climb on the Etape. After Three and a half hours they returned for a relaxing evening.

Wednesday 11th July :: Super-size Me

Today’s training session took in the Port de Bales climb, which was climbed in both directions. The evening meal was once again courtesy of a ubiquitous fast food outlet.

Thursday 12th July :: The Finish Line

Today the tour of the course was concluded with a training ride around the finish at Loudenvielle. The last climb (Col de Pergresourde) was taken in both directions.

Friday 13th July :: Rest Day

This was taken as a rest day; Maurice found a cyber café to catch up with some work.

Saturday 14th July :: Registration

Registration day began with a trip to the registration village to collect race numbers and to check on any last minute news. Maurice spent the day in mellow reflection while Dexter and Darren watched the tour.

Sunday 15th July :: Pre-Flight Check

The training ride pre-event was short and flat, afterwards we felt relaxed and confident. Strangely despite the vast number of calories we were ingesting, we had taken in enough MacDonald’s. (Do not super size me!). The pre-event pasta party filled the hole. The portions were rather small, but queuing up twice brought the portions up to size.
One major difference between the Marmotte and the Etape is that the Marmotte is a loop so you end where you begin. This means that you don’t need transportation home at the end.
The man who was supposed to drive the van pulled out at the last minute, so the commandant from our campsite was recruited. A payment of 180 Euros secured his services for the day.

Monday 16th July :: Race Day

The day started at the crack of dawn with a light breakfast of bread and cheese. The event start was much the same as in previous years. A slow crawl to the start line followed by a slowly accelerating pace as the field opens up. Once the event started all the team members did their own thing. Maurice found a small group of riders to help set a pace and made off after his second consecutive gold award. After a climb or two it became clear the group was off the pace and Maurice left the group in search of a faster group. After a long spell in no-man’s land it became clear that the required group was out of reach. To conserve energy Maurice dropped back to the group and made best speed to the finish. The result was that he missed the gold award by 18 minutes or so. On the final climb Maurice passed the day’s celebrity rider, former tour winner Greg Le Monde on the final climb. He was wearing number 1 so he had clearly had a tough day.
Darren had a somewhat more eventful day. He crashed on descending the Col de portet d’aspet and destroyed his wheel in the process. The recovery service on the etape was able to get him moving again and spectacularly, he managed to finish.

Dexter ground out the course but suffered on the way around. He was found to be suffering from dehydration and had to be ambulanced off. This was however only a precaution, and Dexter was fine the following day.

2007 Etap du Tour Race Times

For reference the fastest time of the day was 6:21:19