Cyclist Tom Hill enjoyed last year’s L’Etape du Tour so much that he decided to try it again this year. He logged over 3,000 miles since January in preparation for the grueling 118-mile race through the French Alps and he needed every bit of that training to persevere in 104-degree temperature July 10. “It was a very long day and the hardest race of my life,” said the 46-year-old Palisadian, who completed the course in eight hours and seven minutes, good enough for a silver medal in his age category. “I was so tired afterwards that I could hardly even talk. I walked to the first aid tent in a daze and spent the next hour on a stretcher recovering from cramps and dehydration.” The L’Etape du Tour is an amateur race held on one of two rest days during the Tour de France. This year’s course was the exact route the professionals took eight days later in the 15th stage of the Tour de France. Hill completed last year’s 112-mile course through the Pyrenees in seven hours and 31 minutes–also a silver medal time. A field of 7,548 cyclists from 46 countries entered this year’s 14th annual L’Etape, which continues to increase in popularity worldwide. Hill was one of 231 American riders. The winner crossed the finish line in just over six hours. Frank Schleck of Luxembourg rode the course in 4:52 to win that stage of the actual Tour de France. The event proved so challenging this year that 2,071 riders–or 27 percent–did not finish. “I don’t think people realized how hard this race would be,” Hill confessed. “Afterwards, I spoke to three guys who compete in Ironman triathlons and they confirmed that this was harder than any Ironman they’ve ever competed in. In fact, only one of them completed the race.” The course this year wound upward through three mountain passes: the Izoard, the Lautaret and L’Alpe d’ Huez, which alone consists of 21 switchbacks. In all, Hill and his fellow riders had to climb 12,500 feet in elevation. Facing severe headwinds for the first 30 miles, Hill pedaled at an average speed of 21.3 miles per hour until he reached the base of the Izoard. By the time he reached that summit, his average speed had dropped to 15 miles per hour. When he reached the base of L’Alpe d’Huez, there was no shade in sight and he was feeling fatigued. During the final climb his speed had slowed to between five and six miles per hour. “The cheering crowd helped us get up the first few switchbacks but soon after the 11 percent grade really started taking its toll,” Hill recalled. “It would’ve been a tough climb even with fresh legs, but we had already ascended two major passes and ridden over 100 miles. With 10 switchbacks to go the course looked like a war zone with riders stopped on either side of the road, many laid out flat on the hot pavement. Thankfully, the spectators poured ice-cold glacier water over our heads and that kept us going. I had told my wife Andrea to expect me to finish between 3 and 4 p.m. and I crossed the finish line at 3:15.” Prior to completing the L’Etape last year, Hill had not raced competitively since 1990 when he won the men’s 28-34 age group at the World Championships in Austria. Hill lives in the Alphabet streets and runs a successful wine bu siness from his office on Via de la Paz. Having raced against three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond numerous times while growing up in the Bay area in the 1970s, Hill knows competitive cycling as well as anyone. He predicted Floyd Landis would win the Tour de France this year and, sure enough, Landis finished first by 59 seconds in the second-closest race ever.
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