Col de Galibier

Road cycling: Villar d'Arene-Col du Lautaret-Col du Galibier-Bourg d'Oisans
Distance/Climb: 70k/1000m
I toyed with the idea of a solo attempt on the Marmotte sportive route today, but it wouldn't have been fair on the children - and the weather was too unstable, so I settled for the short south side of the legendary Galibier. However, by including the steepest top section of the Col du Lauteret, it did at least start to replicate the stunning climax of the Tour stage exactly a week ago in which Andy Schleck climbed this south side alone. The weather had improved considerably as I set off from the final tunnel between La Grave and Villar d'Arene. This meant I got the final 10k of the Lautaret, the steepest section of the climb, and made it a lot more satisfying. Glorious sunshine as I started the hairpins, with the peaks of Les Bans and lower slopes of the Meije starting to emerge from the mist and providing happy memories of my last trip here back in 1994. All very welcome after yesterday's torrential rain, although still rather cool. The Lauteret itself is a major pass linking the Romanche and Guisans valleys, and I had a huge grin on my face as I turned off for the Galibier. Hundreds of cyclists everywhere, the road covered with last week's graffiti, and a tremendous prospect of the road rising up to the col ahead. The gradients are gentle at around 7%, but it still takes some effort to negotiate the huge hairpin in the middle of the climb. I tried to stick in a bigger gear than yesterday and made good progress, passing a few other cyclists as I neared the Desgrange monument. Some light drizzle as I turned right at the tunnel for the 'new' road which goes at least 100m higher and gives a much steeper 12+% climax to the route. A great finish, for which a Belgian hooked on to my rear wheel giving the illusion that we were competing for a stage win. The mist was down on the 2645m summit, and I would estimate the temperature at around 5c. No place to linger, but I came prepared with jacket and hat, and this time thoroughly enjoyed the swooping descent to Villar d'Arene, where I joined the family for lunch (1:50 there and back). From here, the descent to Bourg is too tempting, so I followed Kate in the car for 30k down the Lauteret back to the campsite: superb, despite the tunnels.