Stage Distance: 168km
Total Distance: 380km
Stage 2 would take us diagonally across the island from Bastia to Ajjacio. Today we actually rode longer than the pros will on this stage as we had to ride around 15km to get from our hotel to the start of the stage. From there we rode the first mountain stage of the tour, albeit described as “medium mountains” and therefore supposedly easy.
The ride took us up 4 graded climbs, the most difficult being the category 2 Col de Vizzavona. Tour climbs are categorised from 4 (easy) to 1 (very hard) then HC (above category for those basically too difficult to categorise). It is based on a formula relating length and gradient though I prefer the story (supposedly a myth) that it was based on the gear a Citreon 2CV needed to drop to in order to get up, with HC meaning it couldn’t.
Anyway, the Col de Vizzavona was a stunning climb, taking us up through a forest. It was tough, I’m not good on hills, but I was happy in finding my own slow climb pace and getting to the top. The heat was brutal however and I did stop for a couple of stops in the shade for a breather and to cool down a little. Still, I was happy to manage.
The final section was flat with a final little kick at the end. Remember, in tour speak flat doesnt mean what the rest of us think it means and it rolled up and down until the end of the day.
All in all I think my first mountain stage went as well as I could have hoped, over 2300m climbed, tired but OK apart from a few aches which a nice post ride massage helped immensely (I think I could get used to those).
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