After visiting and riding on some of the oddest places in the world, the TdM caravan finally hit some familiar turf on the last stage of the tour. The Telegraph and the Galibier. Two mountains that are regular visited by the cycling world and two mountains the French would refer to as hors catégorie. This is where legends are born and grand tours are decided. And today did not let us down.
After a couple of flat kilometers the percentages kicked in, and besides a brief passage between the two mountains, it never really went below 6%. This was a day for the real climbers, and as many times before, the front group rode away with an average never below 5 w/kg. Steve Tayler took his second stage win, in what was a demonstrative effort, picking up over 11 minutes to overall GC winner James Melville, who ended up 6th on the day. He came in with fellow GC competitors Krajewski and Vansina, who were having a fierce battle for third. One of which, Krajewski came out victorious. Krajewski rode so well on the day, that he almost caught John Sammut in second place, but Sammut fought his way to the finish line, losing just under eight minutes to Krajewski, which he on top of Saturday's TT win, had to spare. "It was a great race. I loved it. I was close to 2nd place, and now I’m thinking of all these moments when I stupidly lost minutes. At the same time, I wouldn't have predicted before the start, that I could reach the podium. I am very satisfied with the result." Krajewski said after the stage. Asked about whether he was disadvantaged by riding as an individual compared to riding in a team he responded: "I don't think so. It is just different - Much less strategy involved."
"Overall it was a great tour. I would ride again. Not today and not tomorrow. Wednesday sounds ok. Thanks to the organizers and to Rasio Racing."
Top 10 in GC:
- James Melville 12:31:41
- John Sammut 00:14:10
- Andrzej Krajewski 00:15:23
- Kenneth Vansina 00:16:50
- Steve Taylor 00:21:53
- Tim Davies 00:24:48
- Phil Marler 00:28:48
- Jurgen Janssens 00:30:44
- Lee Marshall 00:32:38
- Mark Rowbottom 00:34:53
Melville's' overall win was not by any means a coincidence. He was simply better on most parameters and had on top of that a very competent team to support him. "After 4th place in Our Giro, 3rd place in Vive le France, and 2nd place in the Tour of Britain, all on RGT, it's great to be on the top spot in Tour de Monde. I've got to thank my team for all the help and motivation and congratulate them on winning the team overall classification" GC winner James Melville says after his and his team's great performances. Winning both individual and team GC is something every team must have entered the tour with hopes of achieving. Hans Forhaug of the team adds "We're all very happy with the outcome, but it was torture with such a long climb, trying to hold on to the power. In the end, I was awarded a 90-minute personal best and an improved placing versus last Sunday's mountain stage. Overall the tour has been a great experience!"
Second place in the team GC, Rasio Racing, fought well, but it was always going to be difficult to take time on Glasgow United in the mountains. "We knew we had to make the gap as small as possible against the Scottish crew because they are much faster than us in the mountains. Some of us rode the last course already in the VLF and knew what it was like. Nearly 2 hours of grinding and smashing it on the pedals. We would not be able to help each other that much because of no drafting possibilities. We did what we did and tried our best to get as fast as possible. Hopefully, we can get the number 1 spot in the next series." Joris Schepers from Rasio Racing said after the stage. Joris did fight for a top 10 spot himself, but just marginally missed out. "I did really give it all in the last stage and came only 14 seconds short for the top 10. It is harsh, but number 10 in the GC is my good mate Mark Rowbottom (also RR), so that lightens the pain a bit. I could not always ride in the preferred time slot which lost me some valuable time. I lost 2kg in these 2 weeks, so next time I'll try to cover my eating a bit better. "
Congratulations on 11th place, it is a big achievement! It's a big commitment riding a 12 stages tour in your spare time.
"The riding is one thing but the complete picture is much more. You have to get ready on the exact dates and times, to get to the racing part - and personal life is not always cooperating. Having kids, a wife, and other things around your head apart from racing. I wish I was a pro and could set my mind solely to riding. I really enjoyed these 12 days of racing, and upped my FTP by 10w, so that's nice." Scheepers adds.
The stage race has indeed been taking its toll, both on the physique as well as in the private homes. The ability to commit 100% might be why Steve Taylor was able to win two stages during the tour. We caught him for a chat on how he has experienced the Tour de Monde; if he has achieved his goals and what R. 2cn stands for.
"Long time ago... I was a sub 16m 5K runner, 31m 10K, and a hill racer. Roll the story forward to 2013. I got a folding bike and started cycling to the bus, folding the bike up, and doing the daily commute by bike and bus. Then I ditched the bus, upgraded to a mountain bike, and started riding to and from work to raise money for research into neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumor Cancer in under-fives. A hundred kids a year are diagnosed at stage 4 in the UK and 50% die within a year. Of the other 50%, the relapse rate is high and 80% don't make it. There is currently no cure. "
"After five bikes and 44,444 miles, I went to Australia in 2018 at the invitation of Neuroblastoma Australia, to ride solo across the outback from Brisbane to Adelaide: 2222km. It took me 15 days and raised ten grand for Neuroblastoma research. When I got home, I took a month out and wrote a book about the previous five years: "Ride2Cure Neuroblastoma from a bus pass to the outback" which is available for download at the Amazon book store. That was meant to be it. Retirement."
"However, in 2019 I went back to revisit some of the outback communities as a tourist and it was on that trip that I sat down with Anna Meares. Anna sensed unease in my retirement and suggested that I should go again. So on 1st July, on the second anniversary of the death of a child that I'd supported for treatment overseas, I started again: the target was to ride 25,000 miles in under two years without taking a day off. The final stage of the TDM brought up 20,000 miles of that journey: 567 days in a row at an average of 35 miles and 1550ft of climbing a day. That's where the strength comes from. My oldest son, who's now 31, is a World Lightweight Natural (as in drug-free) Bodybuilding Champion. We are both tiny, at 5ft 6in and 70kg, but we both have legs like tree trunks. I only ride a bike to raise awareness of the disease. My 'out on the road' bike is a heavy-duty job with a Rohloff Speedhub: built for distance and comfort, geared like a mountain bike. My RGT bike is the bike I took to Australia. A completely different animal. "
How did you experience the TdM? Did you enter the competition, trying to win the GC? You did seem strong enough, albeit maybe losing too much time on the flatter stages?
"The GC never even crossed my mind. I had a power glitch at the start of stage 1 and lost two minutes. I was 166th on GC after stage 1. The next day was hilly and being a rookie, I got shelled by the express train. But the second half of the course was uphill and I recovered to get 16th. When I did Brisbane to Adelaide, I rode six 100 mile days in the latter stages. I just got stronger as the ride wore on. And so it was with the TDM... Two stage wins, a second, a fourth, and a fifth in the second half of the race. Speed endurance is a big thing"
When people see your numbers, it is natural to ask - 5.2 w/kg, that's a huge power number for the duration of a TdM stage - what do you have to say to this?
"I quizzed my team about the RGT app a few days ago. I'm a software developer and I totally 'get' interfaces to devices. I said to them that in my opinion, the performance result can't be the same across wheel on/direct drive trainers, across a range of different manufacturers. I just refuse to believe it. My kit is an Elite wheel on trainer and I use Ant+ for the connection via the Trainer option on the power menu. Bluetooth gives me identical power on the screen app. But is that the same as a guy on a direct drive trainer? I don't know, and I have no way of knowing. I ride my bike to my limits every day. The rest is up to RGT's software to sort out."
"I understand. What I need to do now is offer myself up to RGT's #ridefair initiative to ensure that my equipment and config is consistent with their software - but I'd love to think that I'm just some sort of sporting freak"
Steve Taylor ended up fifth in GC, 20 minutes down on overall winner James Melville. He did however end up with the mountains jersey, which for once in cycling, did go to the undeniably overall best climber of the tour. Melville was second and Krajewski took third.
Speaking to one of the organizers behind the event Mike Lister, it is clear, that the weight doping discussion hasn't been a big part of the event "Without eBio passports and validated calibration, it is impossible to prove whether any rider is weight doping or has calibration issues. This may change in the future. At present we can only look at average power for a race. Perhaps there are some riders in this event that aren’t as good as their stats show, but if there are, we don’t think they are doing it knowingly. We have done what we can with the tools available at the start of the event. For future events, I think there will be better tools available. I want our events to be credible, for the results to be meaningful, but for this Tour, we're happy to just draw a line under it all. It’s our first one, we’ve done great. Lots of participation. Lots of involvement. Let’s end it all positively" Lister says.
This is a core issue of any endurance sport, both virtually and in real life. It is simply not possible to be 100% sure that everybody is competing on equal terms. But in terms of a fun, involving, and competitive race - I think we all got what we came for.
Besides the men in this tour, four women have fought equally as hard to make it to the end. Caroline Reuter made it through the tour de monde at 14:27:21, which was an hour (!) faster than second-placed Holly Larsen. "The timing of Tour Du Monde was ideal as we all got locked down. I had been riding the TTT event on RGT at the end of last year and needed the next ‘something to aim for’. Based on my experience of previous RGT stage events, TDM was perfect, especially as I could now do it with my TTT teammates, some of whom I had actually met in real life. The format of the race was imaginative, grueling and sometimes a bit mean - in near equal measures. I think we all experienced some technical glitches along the way to test the nerves and, in the case of new turbo, the bank balance. Throughout the two weeks, our team convened on Discord for pre-match chat and potential tactics. We then went through the trusty rituals, tuned in the playlist and focused on W/kg and virtual lycra, and ignored any concept of tactics. The excitement and nerves at the start of each stage, trying to get to the start line early, the crazy sprint start, and the sheer exhaustion at the end was great fun - about 10-15 mins after the finish! The post-race Team chat and the posting of the results made for a fuller and non-virtual experience. The event was incredibly well organized, overseen by fellow cyclists with great humor and empathy. The dedication and commitment to make it the fantastic event it became, was overwhelming. We’re all living in tricky times but the TDM testing was incredible. As well as huge admiration to the incredible team behind it all, also a big thank you to all the other competitors and teams that entered. It was a great competition to be part of - and to win!" Reuter says on her overall experience with the tour de monde. Expressing thoughts, I am sure, we all can agree on.
The above has mainly been about the winners and the ones who stood out. In reality, though, most of us just made it through. We were fighting up the mountains, fighting to keep in the draft, and glad that we only lost half an hour to the winner. We should congratulate each other for making it through, and I hope to see you all soon on the virtual roads!
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