A week before the pros raced stage 20 of the Tour de France, I lined up with 17,000 other amateurs to ride almost exactly the same route. 170km, 5,400m of climbing, over the Croix de Fer, the Télégraphe, the Galibier and the Col de Sarenne.
So how far off their level are we actually? I went through my Strava file climb by climb against Biniam Girmay, a Tour de France stage winner and green jersey who was riding that day purely to survive the time cut, and the numbers were what I expected. Turns out the mountains are only half the story.
CHAPTERS
00:00 26 minutes
00:40 Riding the same route as the pros
01:43 The caveats nobody wants to hear
04:44 Climb by climb: Croix de Fer
05:54 Col du Télégraphe
06:48 The Galibier
07:13 Col de Sarenne
07:43 So was it just the drafting?
09:00 Where I actually lost the time
11:26 How many of us would have survived?
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17 Comments
I found another excuse for us normal folk… we’re not used to closed roads 😜
You have to remember that the sprinters are only looking to get round within the time cut,not get round as fast as possible. They’ll adjust their effort depending on how the front of the race is going. What you did was awesome, but the pros are doing a different sport…..
Yep, I used to think I was rubbish…but good rubbish. Now you've just explained to me I'm beneath rubbish, thanks Tom.
Now take EPO and do it again.
Even if you could keep up with the pros, would you really turn to pro cycling? Its a bit of a year round lifestyle commitment of diet and training, for not a lot of money relative to the risk for injury/death.
yeah, y'all going home! 😂 imagine if you had 19 stages in your legs prior to that too?!
love your content Tom!
apparently, the alpe d'huez pantani record was after a stage some 100 kms longer than 2026
I wouldn't have made it around at any pace. The gap from me to you is much much bigger than the gap from you to them. Well done on your ride.
wonder if they closed the last part of alpe d'huez because of that corner that sepp kuss took into the netting – not worth the risk for amateurs
Yep, I used to think I was rubbish…but good rubbish. Now you've just explained to me I'm beneath rubbish, thanks Tom. ..
2 years ago, we had the data of a french pro in the tour, and on flat stage, for sprinters, that was close to 200Km if I recall correctly, as he was deep in the peloton, the data showed that he was on free wheel 70% of the time. That’s the aero gain.
I'm 63. I think I'm in good shape for my age, but I'm sure I'm very far off from the pro pace. I won't mention my FTP or w/kg… 😮💨
Thanks for the video
DOPE SURE DOES AMAZING THINGS
….and let's keep in mind that the pros have been on their bikes for DAYS before riding this stage.
I have always thought that the first 20 at the EdT would be pretty much mid table on the Tour stage. Only 20 making the time cut shows how extraordinary the pro’s are.