Day 4 – Stage 4 – Team Time Trial – Tuesday 25th June

Location: Nice (very nice)

Time: as soon as we got off the ferry (not so nice)

Route: Along the Avenue des Anglais promenade – cycle lane (two-way) – pedestrian promenade, beach and sea on one side, so great for a bit of people-watching; versus a 4 lane highway and grand waterfront (ish) buildings the other.  All set off nicely by plenty of palm trees. 

Then inland and slightly uphill to the vicinity of the new football stadium, still under construction, but already readily identifiable as a close cousin of the Beijing bird’s nest Olympic stadium of recent times (zoom in on the picture and you’ll see what I mean)

In our case we also went up a bigger hill than the pro’s take on, as we followed a different route back into town and along to our hotel due to the volume of rush hour and mid morning traffic. 

80+ cyclists trying to proceed as a single group through multiple traffic lights etc was always going to be a challenge, and our progress was, to put it politely, stately.

Distance: pro’s: 22km; us: 21.78km. Time moving: 1 hour 18. Average speed12.8kph. Altitude gained: 209m

The rest of the day – R&R, laundry, a swim in the sea, a walk to the nearest shops.  Very pleasant indeed.  And just as well, as th next stage (which I have just completed as I write this) was looking like a bit of a monster – over 140 miles with 4 categorised climbs…. although also with an interesting twist….