Col du Telegraphe

Col du Telegraphe - profile

The Col du Telegraphe is considered the easiest of the four climbs of La Marmotte. First, because it is the shortest; and second because it comes relatively early into the ride at approximately 60km. However, easy in La Marmotte is only relative, the ascent rises to 1500m and consists of 900m of vertical climbing over 12km at nearly a 8% average gradient. Added to this, attacking the climb in 30c heat and with two bidons both less than a quarter full makes the climb a lot harder. After missing the last water stop just before the start of the climb at Saint Michel de Maurienne, panic started to set in. Not being able to hydrate properly really started to play on my mind and that this misjudgement could have hugely negative consequences for the miles to come. Getting over the Telegraphe wouldn't be a problem but dehydrating and not recovering was extremely worrying considering there were two huge climbs still to negotiate and miles of riding along hot valley roads. The Telegraphe is surrounded by lush green trees but they didn’t seem to help shield the swarm of cyclists from what was now an unrelenting sun. If anything the trees combined with the light coloured road surface seemed to trap the heat and created an oven like affect. This only added to my anxiety but fortunately at 3km in to the climb there was a water stand and I filled both of my bidons to the brim. Like a switch in my head the anxiety was  gone and I picked up my pace to something which was comfortable but at the same time pushing hard enough that my legs could feel a slight burn. It felt good and with the total ride time just over four hours as I approached the summit the day to this point had gone well. I wasn’t in difficulty and my pace was higher than I had expected. Knowing there was a feed stop before the climb of the Galibier I decided to miss the water stop at the summit and dropped down the 4km into Valloire which sits between the two mountains.

Acent of the Col du Telegraphe

The problem with a 4km descent is that recovery time is short. No sooner had I descended into Valloire the road started to rise again towards the Galibier. In fact the descent is so short that sometimes in the Tour de France they classify the Telegraphe and Galibier as one mountain. Our tour guide had told us that missing the feed in Valloire would be the biggest mistake of the ride. The Col du Galibier attacked from the Valloire side is amongst the hardest ascents in world cycling and doing it without refuelling and having no water on board would just about bring an end to the ride. He also mentioned that the feed, although documented on the map as being in Valloire is just outside the town. So you need to cycle through and then it will be visible. The problem was I cycled through and there was no sign of the feed stop. Again, worry started to set in. It is very hot, I know what lays ahead and I know I have very little water on board. I started to think whether I had missed the feed and was almost tempted to turn back, but surely I would have seen hundreds of Lycra clad cyclists milling around filling up their bidons and grabbing fistfuls of food. As I continued to ascend there was still no sign and I really began to believe I had somehow cycled past. And then, as I was about to ask someone I see the sign “Ravitaillement – 1km”. I got to the feed, filled up with water adding energy drink sachets to both bidons in view of what was ahead. I also ate some proper food rather than the endless energy products I had been forcing down. Bread, ham, fruit were all a very welcome change. A quick spin up the road and a brief stop for a "comfort break" and all that lay in wait was the mighty Col du Galibier.