Thursday 12th July 2018 - Stage 7 - Fougères - Chartres

The hotel was not happy with a 6:30am breakfast as they make their own bread etc but did compromise to 6:45am. This was a simple continental buffet. Luggage was loaded and we were in the vans to the start line just after 7:30am.

We started riding just after 8:30am under yet another clear blue sky. It was cooler at 14 degrees with some wind. After a short ride, a photo stop was called for the below. 

On the way to the first feed stop, the pace was about right and we still caught and passed the women's group. One of our riders then punctured and they passed us back.

At one village we stopped for another photo.

We caught and passed the women's group again after our first feed stop and then never saw them again.

Scenery was much the same of farming country with villages here and there. Funnily enough, it looks just like you see on TV with the Tour de France. As we are a day ahead of the race, most villages are hard at work sprucing it up for the race proper tomorrow. It is the same with most of the roads - they are being swept and are generally in pristine condition.

The first 130km or so were all rolling country with continual gradual climbs followed by some descents. The wind was mostly not in our favour, being a head and or cross wind. This made for relatively slow progress.

Towards the 2nd feed stop, some pace was applied as one rider was in a hurry to get there.

With the long distance for the day, we also had a third feed stop at 190km before driving to the hotel. With the smell of finishing and a generally sloping down course, the last 50km or so were completed at a fast pace. We arrived at the hotel about 7pm after passing an airfield with some gliders and a winch visible and seemingly active today.

Riding for the day was 238.8km in 8hrs 20m with 2,539m of climbing. The temperature peaked at 24 degrees before solid cloud cover cooled it down a little.

 

Dinner was at 7:30pm at the hotel restaurant. It was suggested we order the chef's menu of the day to speed things up but with our large group, it seemed to cause them more problems. The food was good as usual and was supplemented with french fries.

Tomorrow is a scheduled shorter riding day and as the mechanics etc have things to do, we are not planning to leave the hotel for the start until at least 8am so can sleep in a little if desired.

A video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cPLKwohCjU