Day 07 // Same As It Ever Was

Words by Stuart Downie

Photos by Alex Duffill, Liz Seabrook, and Tomás Montes

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And you may find yourself living in a bivvy bag

And you may find yourself in another part of the world

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And you may ask yourself

Well, how did I get here?

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Seven days of riding down and the questions have really begun. The main question is usually why, for good reason, and the longer you go the harder it is to answer. There’s also a question of how – but let’s come back to that.

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In the morning, second placed Thomas Boury (109) arrives with some time to make a coffee before the working day begins. Fifteen minutes later, Tim de Witte (111) rolls in. They’ve been battling it out, Tim chasing and Thomas fighting to stay away. As it turns out, this is the theme for the day – after a solo victor, fourth and fifth placed Lucas Strittmatter (076) and Tomas Rongen (119) are also racing one another for position. Lucas had noticed in the preceding days that Tomas was strong on the climbs, so he put in some VO2 max efforts to stay away in the race to the line outside Koba hostel in San Sebastian, arriving 10 minutes ahead. A day for fans of cycling to enjoy some tension, with both pairs of riders seeing each other in the run in to add some impetus to their efforts. Lucas is met by his girlfriend Medea, who he’s been calling for company on the long climbs, even if it’s Medea that’s been doing all the talking. Tomas is met by his parents who have driven their camper down from Nijmegen. Reunions and celebrations ensue, and some well-earned finish line beers deservedly enjoyed. 

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Tomas shows us the blisters on his hands, and compares with race winner Maxime Agut (080) who turned up earlier in the day with a big bag of Frenchman-approved croissants to share among the volunteers, and to congratulate his fellow finishers. It’s a good few hours and Maxime stands the whole time – in spite of all those miles in the legs, he’s worried about getting back up again if he sits down.

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After a couple of two-up sprints, Julien Roissard (068) arrives with nobody else in the picture just before 7pm, good time for a shower and a spot of dinner. Julien looks too fresh, so he can skip that shower and go to the primer plato.

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The pairs competition has been tough fought this year. There is just one pair remaining who can finish in GC: Adrien Déglise (131a) and Gilles Hauser (131b) and they are on their way to the Col de Portet, something of an amuse bouche before the main courses to come. Better tuck that napkin in.

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Coming back to the topic of why and of how, leading woman Hélène Fromenty (052) has gone the wrong way… but she has ended up in the right place.

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For a moment, we must regard the rules, in particular number four: ALL FORWARD TRAVEL MUST BE SELF POWERED.

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After getting a flat and breaking her pump, Hélène took a taxi (approved by the organisers, where necessary) to a bike shop in Saint-Girons. In a bid for efficiency, Hélène took only the affected wheel and not her whole bike. However, at the point you have fixed the issue (that is, at the bike shop) your forward travel must revert to being self powered. This is difficult without a bike, of course.

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The rules must be upheld – they are part of the how of the race – but rather than blindly being enforced, the organisation offers Hélène the opportunity to fix the error and remain in the race, which is better than bupkis. This, of course, means riding back to Saint-Girons and then returning to the point at which she left the course by bike.

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After a week of riding, when you are both physically and mentally fatigued, patience – or, what Robert M. Pirsig might call gumption – is in short supply. It would be understandable if a rider lost their temper, or at least their good humour. Hélène does neither. She returns to Saint-Girons, by bike, and rides back to the course, an extra 60km to her already formidable running total.

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The next woman on the road, Leyla Serbouti (072) took a literary tour of England earlier this year. Lately she has been thinking about poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It’s not this line that she’s been thinking of, but in the case of Hélène and Leyla, friends from Lille, we offer the following with a minor correction:

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Lives of great [wo]men all remind us 

We can make our lives sublime

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There you go, Hal: we fixed it for you.

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