The Good Life France Magazine Winter 2018 | Page 76

A trip must have a purpose, a focus, a raison d'être. So, when I read that the 2018 Grand Depart of the Tour de France was from Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, I had an idea...

I would stage my own Great Departure (doesn’t sounds quite so dramatic in translation, does it?) and explore the bits of the Vendée in the Pays de la Loire playing host to two stages.

When the planners were considering how best to get the 176 riders, their teams, the press and TV, plus thousands of spectators on and off the island, they had two options. 1) The Passage du Gois, a natural 4.3km causeway flooded twice a day by up to 4m, where the foolhardy die if they jumble up their tide-times. Or 2) the road bridge. Mmm… you guessed right, they opted for the latter.

You can’t cycle without a bike, and as I couldn’t afford to fork out £12,000 for a Pinarello Dogma F10 X-Light (same price as a medium sized car) I hired the latest electric bike from Bike n’ Tour, quite legally I might add. ‘Motor-doping’ is hot news in the pro-cycling world, but, despite rumours only one case has ever been identified. Time to explore.

At 20km end-to-end, therefore manageable in a day, Noirmouitier is a delightful backwater with beaches straight from childhood memory; buckets-and-spades, rock-pools to investigate, golden sand and sun. At my hotel, the utterly lovely Le Général d'Elbée, I compared the stats on my personal motor-doped two-wheeler with the stage winner that day. Me: 10km. 4 hours (give or take…I did stop for a beer along the way). Fernando Gaviria, Team Quick Step Floors: 201km. 4h 23' 32". Oh well.

Nutrition for tour riders is paramount. They burn around 5,000 calories per stage and must eat and drink constantly to top up. I have no problem topping-up constantly but I don’t seem to burn it off quite the same. Post-stage they’ll consume recovery drinks with carbohydrate and protein whilst cooling down, then sandwiches, rich cakes and cereal bars. I had a couple of beers and a plate of chips…or crisps if you’re thinking in English.

Their evening meals start with salad, soup or juice for a nutrient boost, followed by meat or fish and carbohydrate-rich foods, with homemade cakes, yoghurt, fruit and flans for dessert.