Stage Distance: 216km
Total Distance: 1893km
Stage 12 saw us start our journey across the heart of France in a route that would see us start at Fougeres in the north-west of France, cutting diagonally across the country back towards the Alps and Mont Ventoux. Our route today saw us cover 216km and ending at Tours.
As with most of the stages in this leg of our trip these were “flat” stages, though today still saw us clock up 1600m of climbing. I’d have counted that as “hills training” only a couple of months back.
The trick to these stages we had been told was to become good at group riding which minimises the effort by taking short turns in the wind at the front before slipping back to recover. When this works well it is amazing how quickly you eat the miles up. It would be essential for the upcoming Mont Ventoux stage, which also happens to be the longest stage of the tour.
[gcmap act="337411187" class="aligncenter"]