Day 6 Les Dix Alpes Stage 3 Visp - Etroubles (Gd. St.Bernard)

lunch at the base of climb to Col du Gd. St. Bernard -  near Orsieres

leaving Visp

Bourg-St-Pierre

where I have come from

hydro scheme - below Lac de Toules

roads that go up... and up...

Lac de Toules

"when does this thing stop going up???"

Damian, Eduardo and Mark

Gd St Bernard profile

Michael, Stuart and Harry

bike parking facility outside coffee shop

sign at the souvenir shop at top of col

large snowdrifts on Gd. St. Bernard

This is the "moment of truth" stage for this tour. With 145 km of distance to ride and the massive Col du Grande - St Bernard at 2473m altitude to finish. This was a truly testing climb with 7-8% gradient most of the way and a gruelling 11% kick at the last 6kms. The weather closed in at the col with cloud limiting vision to 200-300m and wind chill below zero. Glad I took waterproof jacket and arm warmers! Fingers froze and legs turned blue on the 20km descent to Etroubles (Italy). Very fast as the table below indicates. Most of the riders on this route today said it was the most difficult biking challenge they have faced - all of them are experienced riders. The warm hotel/coffee shop at the top was a relief. I look forward to an easier stage tomorrow to Bourg St Maurice in France across the Petit St-Bernard. I havent included the rest day at Visp (Day 5) in this blog as it was a train trip to Zermatt and Matterhorn. I have put pics and details on my travel blog. Garmin connect link http://connect.garmin.com/activity/186615348

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