Читать книгу Tour Climbs: The complete guide to every mountain stage on the Tour de France - Chris Sidwells - Страница 19

They have been part of the Tour almost since it started. The mountains of France have been the Tour’s theatre, where its dramas, its successes, failures and tragedies have been played out.

Anyone with designs on winning the race has to master the mountains, has to be able to soar upwards in defiance of gravity. To see some of the great climbers of this race is to witness a combination of brute force and ballet. Such men appear to have wings on their feet as they dance effortlessly upwards.

Of course it’s not like that at all. It takes years of hard work and application, natural talent, supreme physical fitness and sometimes shear bravery to take on these giant climbs at race pace.

But the bike is a truly beautiful machine. While the racers of this world will use theirs to force their way up the gradients, set records, break personal bests and punish the opposition, others prefer to shift down a gear and take their time.

The mountains belong to both, to all of us really. If you enjoy cycling you can enjoy climbing the mountains of the Tour de France in your own way, and what a lot there is waiting for you.

From the intimacy of the Vosges, through the dark and rugged Massif Central, to the unpredictable Pyrenees and the off-the-scale splendour of the Alps, all of the French mountains are accessible to cyclists. A bit of training, a bit of application, a bit of know how, a sound bike and the mountains are yours for ever. Enjoy!