Hi Jacqui C - my boyfriend is also doing the Etape and we're camping in Biaritz for the week before hand.

I'm not strong enough to ride it myself yet so I'll be driving him to Pau in the morning of the race. He's really looking forward to it! We were in Italy last week and he did the full length Gran Fondo Campagnolo which was very hard, but it's given him a lot of confidence, as the Dolomites have the steepness of the Alps but also the length of the Pyrenees.

Hope the trainings been going well and maybe we'll see you there. Do you ride for a club? I'll make sure Ben keeps an eye out for your team kit. Ben will be in blue and yellow of Brighton Mitre.

Very best of luck - I 'm sure you'll do brilliantly.

P.S. At the Fondo in Italy last week I saw a team called the Zabel Fan Club. They had red jerseys ( should have been green really !) with loads of z's all over them. I would have said hello but my Italian only stretches as far as pizza toppings at the moment