Col du Tourmalet

My heart sank this morning when we woke up to rain on the window and heavily overcast skies. The temperature was only 11 deg and the forecast was for cloud all day. Fortunately, as we got to the bottom of the Tourmalet at Luz-Saint-Sauveur, we could see the sky brightening. It was soon obvious that we were going to be riding out of the clouds and that's exactly what happened. I've been up this climb twice before, the first time with little visibility and the second time in the Etape du Tour, when it was the third climb of the day and hot and all I can remember is being stuck inside my pain cave - for a very long time. It's over a vertical mile of climbing from Argelès-Gazost. Today, I was able to appreciate its magnificent situation for the first time. And also the carnival atmosphere of a big mountain stage in the Tour de France. It's such a wonderful celebration. Thousands of cyclists going up the climb, emulating the gods of the sport who are about to do the same, just twice as fast. Tens of thousands lining the route, spilled out from countless campervans, everyone joined in this one amazing shared experience.

Stopping at a bar at Barèges, we were able to watch the last hour of today's stage and witness what might possibly be the defining moment in this year's race, when Pogacar broke free and distanced his only two rivals - Vingegaard and Evenepoel. What a rider. It was very hard to choose a photo today, so to honour Tadej, here is the yellow jersey group from our vantage point less than a kilometre from the summit. He looked so ridiculously comfortable. 

To complete a perfect day, back at our hotel, after another truly fabulous meal, there was a jazz band performing. They were very good too. Lots of French families watching. It made for a really lovely and chilled evening. Off to bed now and hoping that the legs don't cramp up.