Wellington School Pupils Tackle Tour De France Mountains
Pupils and staff from Wellington School completed a gruelling cycle ride across the Pyrenees in extreme temperatures this summer.
After completing last year’s epic ride from Bordeaux to Caen, an exhausting journey cycling half way across France, the next challenge had to be to continue on from Bordeaux to Barcelona over the Pyrenees. Maybe it was the attraction of early mornings, hard cycling and hot weather, but on the 14th July a group of 28 Wellington school students commenced a once in a lifetime trip 546.5 miles across France and Spain, that would include the world famous Col du Tourmalet.
The team flew to Bordeaux and picked up their bikes which had been driven down by staff in the school minibus. They immediately hopped on and cycled 60K to Hostens where they camped and had a quick dip in the local lake. The next day, they embarked upon the first full stage of Wellington School’s Tour de France (and Spain).
The team cycled an average of 120K each day – initially through France, and on the fourth day they headed into the Pyrenees where they started to climb 9% hills in 35 degree heat. With narrow hairpin bends and extreme altitude, the team tackled much of the Tour de France route, including the world famous beast of a mountain, the Col du Tourmalet, the highest mountain pass in the Pyrenees. They kept up their morale by the constant singing of Jerusalem and Swing Low Sweet Chariot at full volume, and with water bottles filled to the brims and countless numbers of energy bars and gels stuffed in their back pockets, they set off up the 19km climb to the summit.
After enjoying a scenic and highly dangerous descent of up to 50 mile per hour, they were faced with climbing the tortuous Col d’Aspin. At the top, there were incredible views of snow capped mountains, valleys and little villages
“After crossing over in to Spain the following day, the team cycled through beautiful countryside that involved long climbs and spectacular descents. The more Cols we went up, the fitter we became, so the faster we went, which meant we ate more – we ate France and Spain out of Lou chocolate bears and smiley-face jammy dodgers!” commented George Beckley, one of the cyclists from Year 10.
Finally the team embarked upon their last day’s cycling to Barcelona, over the foothills and out on to the plains and then a final few hills before the final descent into Barcelona – a swim, ice cream an a lie-in!
“These boys have all achieved something quite remarkable”, commented the trip’s organiser Nick Vyse, Head of Upper School at Wellington School. “This was a gruelling ordeal for them and included some of the most taxing climbs in the Tour de France. The morale was good, fitness levels were excellent and a real adventure was had by all. Four of these boys are only 14, so it is a really significant achievement and something they will remember all their lives!”
The team cycled 879.2km and climbed 61,330ft – a remarkable achievement by everyone.
Awards were made at the end of the trip: the yellow jersey went to Ross Clarke, being one of the youngest riders and also the first up the Tourmalet. The white jersey (best newcomer) was given to Luke Fieldhouse, always pushing hard and going strong, but with a special mention to Harry Humphreys who lagged behind but persisted against all the odds, he kept on going, kept on plodding and resisted the temptation of the bus. The green jersey was given for sheer endurance and went to the man riding his tank up the hills as quickly as others on their light bikes, George Rymell.
Find out more about Wellington School by visiting their website www.wellington-school.org.uk