Bagnères-de-Bigorre Archives - Bike Rebel Without a Cause

Tour de France 2023 – Recap & Stats

September 17, 2023August 22, 2023

As customary after all my cycling trips into the high mountains, most of those shamelessly dubbed Tour de France like this one or Giro d’Italia, I give you a recap with some stats of my latest adventure.

Compared to other two-week (14 or 15 stages) “grand tours”, it wasn’t the hardest, but it came in close 3rd in distance.

This is also its rank in elevation (D+) but looking at the average D+ over the total distance, it lands on 6th spot (from 7, as neither the TDF 2022 nor the Giro 2020 were two weeks)…

For a total of 1,147 kms, the D+ was 31,971 m – applying the not totally correct, but fair enough 50/50 rule, that amounts to some 56 m of D+ per km of climbing.

Compare that to the Giro’s of 2011 and 2015 (both 82 m/km) or the “toughest” TDF, 2022 at 66 m/km, and this “Pyrenees” Tour seems relatively easy.

Now, I know I’m getting older and some of the (previous) numbers are “off” – be it taken from Garmin, Strava or RideWithGPS – but this Tour really didn’t feel any easier…

Tour de France 2023 – Update II

August 18, 2023July 14, 2023

New Tour de France 2023 update.

The pros already moved on from only two Pyrenees stages which brought more spectacle than many expected.

As I have no less than 15 stages – provided I do not blow myself up like I did during my Tour of 2021 – I will have a lot more climbs to chose from.

But the more I look at/study the map on climbfinder, the more I realize that those are not enough to squeeze every one of them in.

In my – base camp – area, there are plenty hardly worth a second look, but the list of those I consider a “must” is just too long…

Tour de France 2023 – Update

August 23, 2023June 16, 2023

An update on my Tour de France 2023.

As I wrote in my previous post, the Hochsauerland trip was a bit of a struggle due to (additional) physical problems.

While I was in a similar pickle last year, the bruised or broken ribs sustained the week before, at least had time to heal before my Tour de France 2022.

It didn’t end up as a good training for that Tour and this year, that scenario repeated itself.

With an additional sting…

Tour de France 2023

June 16, 2023May 16, 2023

Bagnères-de-Bigorre

Our base camp for the Tour de France 2023 will be in the “Baths of Bigorre”.

As interesting as the history of the city might be, I’ll just provide you with a link to Wikipedia to read about it 😎

Of particular interest for me is the section “Climate” which is very encouraging:

It is however intensely exposed to north by north-west disturbances that collide with the terrain. This barrier effect is felt up to the foothills so that springs, autumns, and winters are cool and rainy while summers are often hot and particularly stormy.

We’ll see how that plays out…

Tour de France

September 17, 2023May 1, 2017

As I do most certainly not object to an opportunity to destroy myself in other areas than the Dolomites, I have no problem with organizing my own versions of the ‘Tour de France’.

Although my cycling heart belongs to the Dolomites, Paula is more charmed with the French part of the Alps, so sometimes you have to compromise 🙂

We planned a first trip there for the summer of 2010, but Paula ended up in the hospital on our day of departure, so those plans were put on ice until 2014.

In September 2017, July/August 2021 and July 2022, we went back for more ‘Tour de France’ adventures in the Alps.

And in 2023, I finally got the cycle (part of) the French Pyrenees…