Stage 16 profile
After a lengthy break, Oscar Pereiro defied a talented trio of riders to cross the line in front.

Your Tour experiences and comments

The tour covered the Mourenx - Pau stage at an incredible 23mph. I completed the Etape du Tour on the same course at 17mph (6hrs 30) and the guy I coached completed the route in 8hrs 30. To do this my friend and I fitted 50 and 36 tooth chain rings on our bikes and 28 tooth cogs at the rear. What gears were the pros using to mount the Ichere, Maire Blanc and Aubisque at such a pace? Your piece on the Etape rightly describes the 3 main climbs as a great introduction to pain. The descents are no respite as breaking and the fear, felt hurtling into hair pin bends tense shoulder and neck muscles as much as the lower back muscles on the ascents. My family also kept me sane in the mountains; more so on the decents where the phrase �wife and two kids� repeated mantra like restrained my urge to let caution to the wind. Roll on next year's Etape.
Tony Bradford, England

I've just done L'Etape du Tour and it was sheer misery from about halfway up the Marie-Blanque to the foot of the Soulor. I entered as part of a 12-man Navy team and was exceptionally proud to finish, even if I was last in the team and 7170th out of about 7350. Five days later the things that really stick in the mind are the last 3km of the M-B (11-13%), a fireman pouring water over me in Eaux-Bonne on the way up the Aubisque - I could have got off and kissed him, but I'd never have gotten back on again and the bonkers descent from the top. When they say that the road has been resurfaced, it's not with tarmac, it's the cheap way with gravel on tar, so you're flying down a hill at 45mph with a wall of stone on your right and a steep drop (I don't know how far, I was looking at the road) on your left. This is on loose gravel with lethal corners on tyres 23mm wide. And when your brakes get too hot they stop working. That little bump at the end, by the way, was the hardest climb of the day. And then you pass under the 1km-to-go banner and you rev up for the crowd-pleasing finish. Down on the drops, nose on the rivet, can't think, can't breathe and you glance up at the finish line and it's at the top of a bloody ski-jump! All in all a near-death experience and I can't wait for next year.
Justin Beattie, Helensburgh, Scotland

Mmmm Tour De France Alpine mountain stages ? Unless you've actually experienced them at first hand (hopefully by bike or even car) the armchair viewer simply doesn't get an impresion of the difficulty of these things. I've been riding in the Alps since I first went to watch the Tour at Alpe D'Huez in 1991 (Indurains first win) and was shocked by the scale of the climbs. Nothing in the UK even compares. I've been fairly regularly since then - always to the 'Mecca' - Alpe D'Huez. There's really no other place to experience the excitment and enormity of the event. I rode the 'Etape' in '98 .Possibly the most brutal Etape there's ever been taking the climbs of the Glandon, Col de Criox de Fer, Col du Telegraph, Galibier, and Les Duex Alps. 189 kms with 70 of those going uphill, run off in scorching 36 degree temperatures. Needless to say quite a few riders will ill prepared and only about half the 6,000 entrants managed to finish. I've never ridden one since ! I have actually been filmed by the BBC touring in Scotland - 'Scene - Holidays' way back in 1980. Check it out - I'm the guy whose idea it was for the holiday. I'm still cycling twenty five years later - long may it continue !
Steve Fowkes, England

I rode the route in l'Etape du Tour, the most incedible and brutal day of cycling I've ever experienced. The climb up to the Col d'Aubisque was intense, the scenery was amazing and the downhill (en route to Col du Soulor) was a serious rush. The final 30km to the finish in Pau were very hard and I had to dig deeper than I had all day. There were people collapsing by the side of the road and falling off their bike - it was all getting very Apocalypse Now. And 180km after starting we hit the finish line. Elated, delirious, lots of emotion and not too much pain thankfully. Fantastic day. Here's to next year!
Peter Craven (Rider 4387), Brighton, UK

Cycled the Mourenx-Pau stage 2 weeks ago. The Col de Marie Blanque just gets steeper and steeper. The descent off Col d'Aubisque is quite technical. Coming off the Solour should be OK if they've finished the resurfacing. It will be a fast ride to Pau further down as the relaid road surface is as smooth as a velodrome. However the Cat 4 col near the end is a nasty sting in the tail!
Graham Kramer, Scotland

"Follow the Legend" said the blurb on the shiny L'Etape du Tour brochure, the bike race that allows amateurs the chance to ride a Tour de France stage. It sounded too good an opportunity to pass up and in went my entry form. Last week during my second 100-mile training ride in preparation for the race I felt many things, but legendary wasn't one of them.

Read more about John's preparation

BBC Sport's John Sinnot will ride L'Etape du Tour over this stage on July 11th

I've heard from someone who lives near the Col D'Aubisque that the road has been completely resurfaced now, which will be good news for those of us who are doing the Etape on Monday 11th. Still there are some scary parts of the descent, including a tunnel with almost no natural light inside, due to an almost 90 degree bend inside it. So it's best to avoid wearing sunglasses before you get to it, otherwise you'll be decorating one of the walls with your blood. Going back to resurfacing, I wonder whether some places in France like the Tour because they get their roads resurfaced!
John Airey, Peterborough, UK

I am a British citizen currently working in Rotterdam. I cycled the Mourenx - Pau stage of the Tour two weeks ago as training for this year's l'Etape du Tour. The route includes the Col du Marie-Blanque and the Col d'Aubisque.
James Brosnan, The Netherlands

It's gonna be real busy. Not with just Tour fans but the rest of Europe on their summer hols. If you can best to book in advance, although you might find a spot "on-route" if your lucky. There are plenty of sites around though so you may just find some little gems tucked away. If not then as the guys say find the municpal pool and take a shower there. If your really brave take a dip in the rivers,
RoamingQuin, Five Live messageboard

I rode the route of stage 16 (Mourenx-Pau, 180km) earlier this week in preparation for the Etape du Tour which takes place on the 11th July. The last 4km of the Col de Marie Blanque are pretty hard, especially in the heat. The Col d'Aubisque is not too steep, it just goes on and on, but is a spectacular climb. The descent of the Col du Soulour is nice and technical, but is made tricky by a thick layer of gravel (and lots of cow poo) which hopefully will be cleared by the time the Tour passes through. The last 50km into Pau are glorious, slightly downhill most of the way with a couple of minor hills, which don't seem so minor with 150km and a couple of mountain passes in your legs!
Rich, UK

I've recently completed all of the climbs included in this year's Mourenx to Pau stage to check the gearing set up on my bike. The Col de Marie Blanque is utterly horrific - no let up and ever increasing steepness all the way to the top. The Col d'Aubisque is a gruelling 19kms uphill - the following descent is awesome and makes it all worthwhile.
Peter Shaw, UK

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