"the kind of service & experience we haven't seen beaten..." (Procycling Magazine)
"Tour climbing heaven " & " Hors-catégorie plates of food " (Cycle Sport Magazine) CLICK the magazine cover TO READ MORE
PyrActif recommends:
Retro Etape 1910
100 years ago, the Tour de France made its first major incursions into the mountain ranges of the South. In earlier Tours the organizers had included one-off climbs of cols in the Massif Central and a solitary Alpine pass, but 1910 represented the first true ‘mountain’ stages, both of them through the now infamous passes of the Pyrenees.
On the first of two race days, the riders rode from Perpignan via a series of (now) Catgeory 2 and 3 cols which tested, but didn’t terrorise, them.
Two days later, on July 21st, they tackled what – at the time - was surely the greatest single-day cycling challenge that had ever been undertaken. Starting out in Luchon, they successively climbs the cols of Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Soulor, Aubisque and Osquich, before negotiating some stinging minor hills in the Basque country and rolling into the finish at Bayonne. 326km; around 5500m of climbing; 14 hours 10 minutes of riding for the stage (and eventual Tour) -winner Octave Lapize; a gruppetto arriving 7 hours 33 minutes after Lapize; and only 46 riders able to finish at all. The word ‘epic’ could have been invented to describe this undertaking.
Gustave Garrigou became the first man to ride the Tourmalet without getting off to walk
In early Tours the route would, quite literally,
be a lap of France
Stage winner, Octave Lapize had to walk on several sections of the Tourmalet & Aubisque
In a fantastic ‘reconstruction’ of that 1910 stage, our ‘Retro-Etape 1910’ package brings you the chance to ride some of the most famous of Pyrenean cols. Whilst the col roads are no longer the unmade gravel tracks which forced most riders off their bikes 100 years ago, the challenge remains undimmed. Your major decision is whether to ride the route in our ‘standard’ format, below, as a 2-day ride (which will suit most riders better) or to attempt the authentic single-day version.
We’ll collect you from Toulouse airport on Saturday and drop you back there on Tuesday. In between you’ll have 326km of riding with a ‘team car’ in support. You’ll stay in comfortable hotels and our charming, renovated French farmhouse. You’ll have access to workshop facilities, secure bike storage and the option of a qualified masseur. You’ll be well fed and - we’re confident - will go home savouring some of the best riding of your life.
