Quote Originally Posted by runnergirl
I want to do the L'etape soooo bad!!! How long did you spend in France? Any good Mt. training tips? How fast was the fastest woman? I'll look at the slideshow at work tomorrow! (Mac at home).
We were there for just over two weeks. We decided to go because we lived in Pau for a year about 5 years ago, and we are familiar with the area. (the stage ended in Pau) They haven't yet posted all the category winners, but I expect they will, since that info is available for all the previous years. Jeanne Longo, famous fast French female, has won it in the past. As for training--go ride mountains a lot! I did two hilly centuries in the spring, one of which was the Assault on Mt. Mitchell, which was comparable in difficulty. Plus I just rode a lot, tried to get in a lot of climbing. My husband is a pretty good coach, and I had an excellent training partner (thanks Jen!).