If anyone can appreciate the hard work and dedication it took for Lance Armstrong to win his seventh consecutive Tour de France last Sunday in Paris, it’s Palisadian Tom Hill. One of the top cyclists in the United States in the 1970s, Hill raced against Greg Lemond every weekend and had dreams of competing in the world’s most prestigious race himself one day until he injured vertebrae in his lower back in a skiing accident, effectively ending his career. And although Hill went on to build a successful business in the wine industry and start a family, in the back of his mind there was always the lingering question… what if? ‘Until that accident in 1978, I was planning on racing professionally,’ Hill recalls. ‘But after that I kind of drifted into a normal sort of life. I went to San Diego State, got my business degree in 1983 and started working. But I always rode on the side. I’ve never given it up. I’m still a huge fan of the sport.’ And on July 11, Hill finally got to experience what the Tour de France would have been like. He participated in the 13th annual L’Etape du Tour, an event run by organizers of the Tour de France. It takes place on one of the two rest days for the professionals during the grueling 23-day event. Hill was one of 7,785 cyclists to ride the 16th stage of the Tour de France, a 112-mile stretch through the Pyranees from the town of Mourenx to the city of Pau in Southeastern France. Considered one of the toughest of the 21 stages in the Tour de France, the route included 25 miles of climbing 10,000 feet over three mountain passes with grades over 16 percent. ‘I trained for four months in Malibu Canyon and Old Topanga Canyon but nothing I did really prepared me for Pyrenees,’ admits Hill, who lives in the Alphabet Streets with his wife Andrea and 14-year-old son Andy. ‘The Pyrenees are much steeper than the Alps and by the end of the race I was absolutely drained. It’s incredible to think the professionals can be right back riding the next day. People don’t realize how physically demanding that kind of cycling is.’ At 45 years old, Hill completed the 112-mile course in seven hours and 31 minutes and earned a silver medal by finishing 15 minutes under the designated silver medal time for his 40-49 age group. The winning time of his race was 5:15. Eight days later, in the actual Tour de France, Oscar Pereiro completed the stage in 4:38:20–the exact time predicted. ‘They have everything down to a science now,’ Hill says. ‘The race has gone on so long that the organizers are pretty accurate in predicting what’s going to happen based on previous results.’ Just being able to participate in the event was Hill’s first hurdle. Sign-ups started last October and the event typically sells out in 48 hours. Most of the participants are French, although riders from 44 countries competed this year, including 187 Americans. ‘I had contacted a French-based company I knew but they first said there was no room so I had given up on the thought,’ Hill said. ‘But I got an e-mail four months ago saying that there had been a cancellation and I was in.’ Hill described the experience as exhilarating but he needed to rely on his past racing experience to navigate on narrow mountain roads with thousands of other riders. ‘I was a late entry so I was assigned bib number 5654,’ says Hill, who rode a Scott CR-1 bike, made of carbon fiber and weighing a mere 16 1/4 pounds. ‘So when the race began, I had about 5,000 people ahead of me. It took me 13 minutes and 50 seconds just to reach the starting line. Once you get going, you can manuever and try to clear a path for yourself, but it’s still very crowded and very dangerous. Accidents happen all the time.’ After finishing, Hill traveled to Montpellier to watch the 13th stage of the Tour de France, then flew home to the Palisades and awoke at 5:30 every morning to watch the last five stages of Armstrong’s history-making feat. ‘The first couple of days after L’Etape I was exhausted and sore all over and I said to myself I’m never doing this again,’ Hill says. ‘But after a few days I thought I have to come back next year and this time I’m going to shoot for a gold medal.’ This year’s gold time was six hours and 38 minutes but it will be different next year as the race will take place in the Alps. Prior to L’Etape, Hill’s last competitive race was 15 years ago at the World Championships in Austria, where he finished first in the men’s 28-34 age group and 67th overall. But his glory days were back in high school when he competed against Greg Lemond, who would become the first cyclist to put America on the international map. Lemond won the Tour de France three times and was named Sports Illustrated’s ‘Sportsman of the Year’ after winning by eight seconds in 1989 in the closest finish ever. ‘I grew up in the Bay area and Greg lived in Carson City, Nevada, so every week we were in the same category,’ Hill says. ‘I was the best in my age group until Greg came along. I felt like Jan Ullrich competing against Lance Armstrong, finishing second to Greg in most races.’ But Hill did beat Lemond on several occasions, including a victory by mere inches at the Nevada City Criterium in 1977 when he was 17 years old and Lemond was 16. ‘It was an exciting race. It was a one-mile course but it was a 20-lap race and I was drafting him most of the way,’ Hill says, remembering like it was yesterday. ‘I made my move on the last lap and had the lead through the last turn and thought I had it won. But somehow he got on the inside of me and I barely held him off at the finish line.’ Hill may not be racing against the likes of Greg Lemond anymore, but he is far from ready to relegate his bike to the garage. He rides for LaGrange in Westwood, a cycling group that rides different 25 to 30 mile routes every morning around Los Angeles, including one in Mandeville Canyon. To put Armstrong’s record in perspective, Hill says it will go down as one of the greatest achievements in sports history. ‘It’s equivalent to running a marathon at a record pace every day for 21 straight days,’ Hill says. ‘No one will do it again in my lifetime–I’ll bet my last penny on it. The man is just incredible.’
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