Galibier and the "Pantani Forever" Monument

In a few days the Tour de France will start and this edition will celebrate the inclusion of the Galibier in the Tour 100 years ago. As part of the history of this mountain a new monument was inaugurated on Galibier on June 19th dedicated to Marco Pantani. It was on Galibier, on July 27, 1998, that Pantani made his ferocious attack against Jan Ullrich, then the yellow jersey, and relegated the German to nearly nine minutes in a day to pandemonium.

The "Pantani Forever" monument is located at 2,301 meters of elevation on Galibier, the point where Pantani began his attack.

The monument was created by Massimo Salvagno from stone from the Piedmonte region, from Luserna San Giovanni.


(Part II of the video is here).

There will be a special 18.2 km ride up the Galibier to the monument on July 23rd , details here.

For this year's Tour de France the Galibier will be climbed twice after an interval of 24 hours. The finish of the 18th stage will be judged at the summit, which will be the highest finish in the Tour’s history, at an altitude of 2,645 meters. Stage 18 has three very big cols: the Agnel, the Izoard, followed by the Galibier. On Stage 19 will have Col du Télégraphe, Galibier, and then finish with the climb to Alpe d’Huez.

History of the Galibier in the Tour de France:
"The Tour’s peloton had hardly recovered from the shock of discovering the Col d’Aubisque and the Col du Tourmalet, on its trip to the Pyrenees during the 1910 Tour. And now there was talk of a new summit to be climbed, another whim resulting from the imagination of Henri Desgrange and Alphonse Steinès, the adventure enthusiasts. In 1911, the Tour de France’s peloton began its assault on the Galibier which was even higher, even harder and even colder than anything that any of the cyclists had ever experienced.

After expressing anger and hostility, the riders, who were perched between heaven and earth, were in fact fascinated by the setting and were conscious of the feat to be achieved. “It knocks you for six”, uttered proudly to spectators, émile Georget, the first rider to climb up to the summit of the Col du Galibier, at an altitude of 2, 556 metres, on 10 July 1911. The pioneer of pioneers, who did not get off his bicycle once during the entire ascent, had just completed the 34-kilometre climb, from Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, via the Col du Télégraphe. As he was very impressed by the spectacular encounter of these heroes and was amazed by the historic day that had just been experienced by the Tour, Henri Desgrange wrote a hymn of worship for the riders in L’Auto (the daily sports paper):

“Haven’t they got wings, our men who have been able to climb up to heights where even eagles don’t fly? … Oh Sappey, Oh Laffrey, Oh Col Bayard, Oh Tourmalet! I shall not fail in my duty to proclaim to the world that you are like an insignificant and common beer compared to the Galibier: all one can do before this giant is doff one’s hat and bow.”

Out of respect for the prophecy of the Tour’s founder, cyclists have appeared before this giant for one hundred years with the same humility. Some of them have overcome it, and have even succeeded in using its steepests lopes to create a name for themselves. Gino Bartali, for example, succeeded in getting rid of the threat of Louison Bobet by dominating the Galibier, in 1948. However four years later, he suffered from the advent of the younger generation, due to the performance achieved by Fausto Coppi: “He’s like a cable-car on a steel wire rope”, said Jacques Goddet, with great enthusiasm, at the time.

Subsequently, Bahamontes, Gaul, Merckx, Zoetemelk, Ocana and Pantani have all gone over the summit first, which has moreover increased by one hundred or so metres since the tunnel was closed and the new road was built. And in 2011, a new name will become legendary, with the first finish judged at the summit of the Col du Galibier. At an altitude of 2, 645 metres, it will be the highest finish in the Tour’s history." (source www.letour.fr)Note: current record for highest summit finish in the Tour is the 2,413m Col du Granon in 1986.

"Pantani Forever" Monument photos: AFP PHOTO / JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT

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The Day Amina Was Born

Guest contributor John, from the U.S., writes in with his story about a part of his trip with Eros Poli, the first Italian to win a Mont Ventoux stage in the Tour de France.

"My wife Eileen thought I was out of my mind, signing up for a cycling trip to the French Alps and Italy at the same time my son and his wife were going to have their second baby. We were all hoping for a little girl, since the first 4 grandchildren were boys. I assured her that cell phones work in France and Italy, just as well as they do in America.

So with the assurance that I would keep my cell phone with me at all times and not ride off a mountain top somewhere, she gave me her blessing to embark on a trip that I will vividly remember the rest of my life. It was, literally, one long series of “Oh my God” moments from the time we arrived in Geneva and met our guide Eros Poli and his assistant Ivan, to the last day in Verona, Italy having dinner with Eileen, trip mate Brent, Eros and Ivan on the balcony of Eros’ apartment. This story is about day 3 of that epic trip to some of the most famous mountain routes of the Tour de France, including the Col du Telegraph and the Col du Galibier.

Day three, Monday, was a rest day for the 2010 Tour de France. We left our hotel in Evian les Bain on Lake Geneva, and drove in our van to Morzine, the scene of the previous day’s mountain top stage that ended in nearby Avoriaz. We spent the morning walking amongst the team equipment trucks and team buses, taking pictures and enjoying the proximity to the riders and their very exotic and expensive equipment.

We then drove several hours to St. Jean du Mauriene, France to begin our ride for the day up Col du Telegraph and Col du Galibier. Since we were starting in the late afternoon, and my son’s wife was scheduled for a C-section delivery at about 10:30 AM in New Jersey, I figured we would hear something by way of a text message sometime after 4:30 PM in France.

We left St. Jean du Mauriene at about 4:00 PM. The first few km’s were relatively flat and wind through the village streets, cross a bridge and quickly start the long, steady (about 7 or 8%) grade up the Col du Telegraph. From the village to the Col, is about 12 km’s. Each kilometer is marked by distinctive yellow markers counting down the distance to the top of the climb. I had my Blackberry in my jersey pocket with the ring tone set to a very distinctive “ding dong, ding dong” whenever a text message is received.

Trip mates Brent and Diana were stronger and had gone ahead up the mountain. Joe, Kimberly, and I were bringing up the rear along with Eros on his bike and Ivan driving our van. Part way up the mountain, we could look back on St. Jean du Mauriene and watch the afternoon thunder showers in the valley below. It was a hot day and a shower would have been welcome, but we stayed clear of the showers.

At almost precisely 4:45 PM at about the 5 km marker, my Blackberry rang its distinctive alarm that meant I had received a text message. Kimberly, riding close behind me, heard the alarm as well. I wanted desperately to stop and check the message, knowing it could be only one thing. Along this stretch of road there was very little shoulder with a stone wall next to the road which gave me little room by the roadside to stop.

After perhaps a couple hundred meters looking for some room I gave up trying and stopped. By the time Kimberly and Eros arrived I had managed to extract the phone, hit the right button (hands were shaking) and was able to make out a message (didn’t have my reading glasses) from my son in the delivery room that baby girl Amina had been born at 10:40 AM. Mom and baby were doing fine. Everyone had expected a boy, so this little girl was a totally unexpected surprise. The three of us stood there by the side of the road, my hands shaking and in tears, trying to respond to the message. Eros chronicled the event on his camera with pictures of the cell phone and my trying to respond without my glasses and shaking from the excitement of the moment.

We finally got ourselves together, made it to top of the Col du Telegraph, took some pictures and headed down a short descent to the ski station of Valloire. From the center of the village of Valloire to the top of the Col du Galibier is about 19 kms at 7% – 9%. It is a stunningly beautiful route amongst the tall peaks of the Alps. In mid July, snow remains in the high peaks and shaded spots along the route. The sun was low in the sky giving an even more beautiful caste to the mountains and clouds.

After about 2 ½ hours of steady climbing we arrived at the top of the Col du Galibier. Our van was waiting for us, the sun was setting behind the mountains and it was getting quite a bit cooler as the day wound down for us. I literally felt like I was on top of the world. A little girl, born that afternoon in New Jersey, had given me a push up that mountain unlike any experience of my life.

We took our pictures, got in the van and watched as Eros got on his bike and headed down the backside of Galibier with us trailing behind. We quickly fell back as Eros reverted back to his professional cycling days with a descent that had all of us holding our breath. The high mountain roads have no shoulders and no guardrails, so any mistake or misjudgment would have sent him into the abyss. He was in his element and truly enjoyed the ride down the mountain. We arrived at our hotel in the ski station of Monetier, and were met by Eros’ good friend and hotel owner Colette on the evening before Bastille Day.

That night, we celebrated an amazing day in the mountains and the birth of my fifth grandchild with Prosecco wine and dinner followed by Colette’s special meringue, whipped cream, fruit and ice cream desert. A dinner with Eros invariably ends with Espresso and Limoncello. It was 11:00 PM as we finished. At midnight, while Bastille Day fireworks went off outside, we finally were able to connect, via Skype, back to the US for a quick view of baby Amina and her proud 3 year old brother. Altogether, a memorable day of cycling and celebrating that I will cherish forever. Thanks to Eros, Ivan, Collette and the rest of our group for a trip and a day of a lifetime."
Photos: click to enlarge

For more information about Eros Poli tours visit www.eros-poli.com

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Coming:Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Telegraphe

Last year Eros Poli organized a great trip to Mont Ventoux (the stage he won in the 1994 TdF). Last night was the first meeting for those that are planning to participate in this year's trip.

The meeting was held at the Gruppo 1 club headquarters and as usual there was lots to eat and drink. It was a festive atmosphere with everyone talking about last year and what awaits us this summer.

Eros explained that this year's trip will be a 3 day weekend in June. We will be riding Friday afternoon, all day Saturday (see graph), and Sunday morning. Bourg d'Oisans will be our base in France. This year we'll be tackling several climbs: Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Telegraphe, and others. It looks to be an absolutely spectacular area...on a completely different scale from a riding perspective. Thinking ahead I wish for good weather and good legs.

Eros' long time trainer, Elios, was there as well and he was kind enough to give me some training tips to build up more power. Looks like hill intervals in the big chainring are in my future. Can't wait! Not.

Photos: the village of Bourg d'Oisans, the switchbacks of Alpe d'Huez, a lone rider on Galibier, the Izoard, the profile for our Saturday ride ending at Alpe d'Huez.