It’s a big day after the previous day’s 267km: another 216kms and 3,600m of climbing from Valence to Greoux les Bains.
The rider’s hotel in the morning is akin to a field hospital, with bodies awaiting repair with kinesiology tape before they return to their bikes for the penultimate day. But the sun is shining and the scenery is stunning.
Within the peloton, people keep each other buoyed up – new friendships have been formed and it is chatter and conversation that keep the mood high – although the headwind makes a very unwelcome return and claims a few battered bodies as its victims.
