Tomorrow on the Tour de France......the Tourmalet

The Col du Tourmalet, at 2115 mtrs is the highest point for the Tour in the Pyrenees. After a long day of going up and down big hills to get to this summit is another 20 kms of solid steep climbing. Should make great TV tomorrow afternoon.
It was 10 years ago I conquered this col. It was very difficult climb, the road was in bad condition, lots of loose gravel on the bends and some of the inclines incredibly steep. I was very tired by the time I finally got to the top. To celebrate the achievement I bought this tee shirt (and probably a coffee). Even had my picture taken, posing with bikes but this has been lost over time. 
Given the length and gradient  of the climb, together with the chill wind, its difficult to believe but there were some fools actually cycling up this road. As I said it was a struggle for me and I was in a car. Unbelievable