I’m not sure why I chose to start with such a steep monster. 1300m of climbing in 16km, which is pushing 10% average. But the aerial shots of the Lacets (a series of very tight hairpins perched precariously on a ridge, with cliffs on both sides) looked fantastic on the tdf. And the view from the top of them – straight down over my campsite in Culoz and on down the Lac du Borget to Aix les Bains – was stunning. The problem was coping with the 13% ramps to get then, and then being less than a quarter of the way up.

It’s a good job there was shade under the trees, because it was already 26C at 10.00 and forecast 34 this afternoon. Above the Lacets it climbs consistently over 10% for more than half of the remaining 12km. There is alpine pasture once you emerge from the trees towards the top, and then the finishing ramp, steep as ever, to the summit car park.

Towards the top I had begun to see cyclists descending, and I narrowly avoided being overtaken by a young French lad. In the effort of trying to make conversation in French, I managed somehow to delete my garmin record of the climb. Annoying!
It was a tricky descent down ramps of 19%, full braking all the way. This is the way the tdf went up it this year – poor sods! I passed one guy toiling up the steepest section, out of the saddle.
It was seriously hot back in the valley, so I contented myself with another 300m of much easier climbing, to wind the legs down, and then headed back to the campsite for an afternoon’s rest.