Friday 27th July 2018 - Stage 20 - Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle - Espelette ITT (Individual Time Trial)

Breakfast was scheduled for 8am with a 9am riding start. Croissants, yoghurt, orange juice, meat and bread were available. It was apparent that one rider was quite ill and would struggle to ride. A couple of the support staff had also succumbed and were not 100%.

The start was delayed and the sick rider cajoled from his bed to complete the short ride.

It was overcast but dry and warm as we prepared for the stage. There had been some talk earlier in the tour of racing this stage as an Individual Time Trial (ITT) but given the circumstances, the issue was not even raised on the day.

Starting from the hotel, the official start line was a few kilometres downhill away. The course itself was narrow, hilly with an official maximum gradient of 21% but some riders reporting 26% on their computers and with some technical descents. As such, it was a short, hard ride even though we stopped a number of times. All riders completed the course.

Total riding for the day was 33.5km in 1hr 33m with 591m of climbing (over 1.5 Te Mata Peak climbs.)

It was then back to the hotel for a shower before going to the train station to travel to Paris for the final stage. It was then that the dramas started for the day.

We were dropped off at the train station and support staff started the long drive to Paris in the vans. We had lunch at a vegetarian cafe at the railway station while waiting for the train.

After arriving on the platform for the scheduled departure, the TGV (high speed train) did not arrive. It transpired a fire in Paris had destroyed some of the train control systems so the rail network was in chaos. The initial advice was it would be at least a six hour delay but probably much longer. While waiting, we went to a bar across the road from the station for nibbles and drinks. The options of vans, cars or flying to Paris were assessed but all were not viable. After some time, it was decided we should take a regional train to Bordeaux where the support vans had stopped. Tickets for this were arranged by a friend of one of the support staff. This train was also delayed and after a number of stops, we made it to Bordeaux.

The next plan was then to get a TGV from there to Paris as the next one was scheduled to leave shortly. As such, again the support staff left to continue their drive to Paris. We had a light dinner from a railway station patisserie only to see the TGV cancelled with no more scheduled. The support crew were then recalled to Bordeaux and the decision made to drive to Tours that night and continue on to Paris in the morning. Luckily, accommodation was found in Tours for us all and we arrived there around midnight.