The question of the day was where is Mr Doo-glass? (Douglas, the tour organiser).
With breakfast at 6:30am at the hotel, which was the standard French fare of cereal, yoghurt, breads, croissants, orange juice, fruits, meats, cheese and coffee etc, departure was set for 7:30am in the vans. On leaving the hotel and handing in the room key, the receptionist asked me who was paying. I said Mr Doo-glass. She then asked everyone who handed in their keys if they were Mr Doo-glass. The answer was no as he had slept in and was still in bed. One of the other support staff roused him and we were soon on our way.
We started riding just after 8:30am under the ubiquitous fine and sunny skies with little wind. Some riders were feeling less than 100% and the "flat" course started with some gentle rollers which made for a slow start. Some downhill increased the average speed to just under 30km/h. With a couple of small climbs (in relative terms), the average speed stayed around that all day.
Scenery was again cropping country with mostly sunflowers but also cereals, maize, a few grapes and other crops. Only a few villages were ridden through and the stage was so uneventful no photos were taken.
Making good time, we rode the 173.3km in 5hrs 56m with 1,411m of climbing (about four Te Mata Peaks.) The temperature started at a pleasant 18 degrees and peaked at 32 degrees.
As no photos were taken during the ride, I took one of the finish area for good measure.
Dinner was scheduled at another Flunch restaurant but we were far too early so the decision was made to find a bar with a TV so we could watch the Tour de France stage live. This was harder than it sounded and we ended up at a hotel which had quite a few of the pro cycling team trucks parked up.
From there, we went to dinner but were 6 minutes early as they opened at 6pm so had to wait. Dinner was finished by 6:45pm and we drove to Lourdes and our hotel which is actually apartments in the middle of town. The town is full of tourists.
Breakfast has been set for 6am tomorrow in our room as it is a long and hilly stage which will probably take 9 to 12 hours of riding.
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