The whole crew with bikes raised at the finish in Alpe d'Huez

Tourmalet or Die

Five riders (a couple of them real engines), four routes, one week in the Pyrenees. From our base in Lourdes up to the highest peaks of the Tour de France and back down to the Atlantic.

Aug 16-22, 20264 routes~360 km~6,500 m climbing5 riders
The whole team with road bikes on the waterfront in Saint-Tropez
DušanDušanDanDanMarekMarekŠimonŠimonDavidDavid

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Riders' Garmin LiveTrack links. The links go live the morning of each ride - until then the cards stay inactive.

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DanDan
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MarekMarek
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ŠimonŠimon
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01 Base Camp Lourdes

Lourdes is our base camp for the whole week - this is where we set out for the climbs every morning, and where we return every evening.

A city of records

Lourdes has around 13,000 residents, but roughly 3 million pilgrims visit every year. That makes it the city with the second-highest number of hotel beds in France, after Paris - more hotels packed into a few streets than plenty of regional capitals back home.

1858

In February 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous reportedly witnessed eighteen apparitions in the Massabielle grotto. Lourdes has been the most visited pilgrimage site in Europe ever since. Water from the spring is free, with taps right by the grotto - just bring a bottle.

The candlelight procession

Every evening at 21:00, a candlelit procession moves through the city - hundreds of people, quiet, street after street. We will see it from the window of our accommodation, whether we feel like it or not.

A Tour de France start town

Lourdes is a classic Tour de France stage-start town and sits right at the foot of Hautacam - where Jonas Vingegaard won a stage and launched his attack on the yellow jersey in 2022. And it is also just a short hop from the finish at Tourmalet, the climb we wear on our jersey.

The Rosary Basilica lit up after dark, its crowned dome glowing above the squareThe whole sanctuary complex in autumn colours, with the Pyrenean hills rising behindThe candlelit procession moving through town every eveningThe Château fort de Lourdes perched on its rock, with the Pyrenean peaks behindThe basilica seen from the esplanade on a clear day, its spire rising into the blue skyThe Château fort de Lourdes mirrored in the still water of the Gave de Pau

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

We will probably need a miracle more on the Tourmalet than at the grotto - and after a week with 4,500 metres of climbing, that evening procession might need some help of its own.

Base camp in practice

Accommodation in Lourdes runs Mon-Thu (Aug 17-20), see the Travel section. We ride out to the mountains in the morning and come back here in the evening - no packing between mountain days.

02 Routes

Four routes, four moods - from the toughest mountain day to a flat victory lap by the ocean. Profiles are colored by gradient, maps load in once they scroll into view.

Tourmalet and Aspin

Tue Aug 18
78.7 km2589 m climbingmax 2110 m

Tourmalet and Aspin

78.7 km · 2589 m climbing · max 2110 m
2110 m296 m0 km78.7 km
descent< 4 %4-7 %7-9 %9-12 %> 12 %

Map loads when visible.

Download GPX

Tourmalet is the name we carry on our jersey. In 1910 the Tour de France rode it for the first time, and Octave Lapize, pushing his bike over the final metres, screamed at the organizers: Vous êtes des assassins! - You are murderers! He still won the stage, and that scream is the "or Die" in our trip's name. Three years later, on the exact same road, in the valley below Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, Eugène Christophe's fork snapped - he walked down to the village and had to forge the repair himself at a blacksmith's, because the rules banned outside help. After the descent from Tourmalet comes the pastoral Aspin, where cows regularly stand around on the road and where, in 1950, the Italian teams abandoned the entire race over a hostile crowd.

The Maison du Tourmalet building at 2,115 metres, at the top of the passThe Giant of Tourmalet statue, commemorating cyclist Octave LapizeSwitchbacks in the final stretch of the Tourmalet climb from La MongiePanoramic view of the Pyrenean peaks from the Tourmalet passCyclists climbing toward the summit of Tourmalet during stage 14 of the 2024 Tour de FranceView of the Pyrenean ridges from the Aspin passThe Aure valley seen from the Aspin passWinding mountain road descending toward Arreau from the Aspin passThe Col d'Aspin sign at 1,490 metres, with grazing cattle

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Hautacam

Wed Aug 19
71.8 km1771 m climbingmax 1630 m

Hautacam

71.8 km · 1771 m climbing · max 1630 m
1630 m291 m0 km71.8 km
descent< 4 %4-7 %7-9 %9-12 %> 12 %

Map loads when visible.

Download GPX

Hautacam looms right above Lourdes, where we're staying all week - so we'll be looking at it out the window every morning. The climb has a reputation as one of the most irregular in the Pyrenees: an average of about 7.8 percent hides sections that jump between 4 and 11 percent without warning. In 2022 Jonas Vingegaard launched the attack here that stripped Tadej Pogačar of the yellow jersey and decided that year's Tour de France. The mountain of miracles above the town of miracles - a cliché that genuinely earns its place here.

Climb marker for Hautacam at the 10 km mark, with a view of the mountain stationA switchback at the 11 km mark of the Hautacam climbCows grazing by the road in the final kilometre of the Hautacam climbThe mountain station and restaurant at the summit of HautacamView of the snow-capped Pyrenean peaks and the Argelès-Gazost valley from HautacamCows resting in the mountain pastures of Hautacam

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Aubisque

Thu Aug 20
109.1 km2001 m climbingmax 1700 m

Aubisque

109.1 km · 2001 m climbing · max 1700 m
1700 m178 m0 km109.1 km
descent< 4 %4-7 %7-9 %9-12 %> 12 %

Map loads when visible.

Download GPX

Aubisque was part of the legendary 1910 "circle of death" - the day the Tour stacked Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque into a single stage and provoked Lapize's furious scream. In 1951 Wim van Est, the first Dutchman ever in yellow, crashed on the descent here and fell about 70 metres into a ravine. He survived - pulled out on a rope tied together from spare inner tubes, his yellow jersey in shreds. The road from the Soulor side runs along the Cirque du Litor, a balcony road carved into the rock, one of the most photogenic kilometres in the entire Pyrenees.

Statues of three giant bicycles in Tour de France jersey colors at the summit of AubisqueRoad carved into the rock face between Aubisque and Soulor in the Cirque du LitorView of the Ossau valley and Pyrenean peaks from the Col d'AubisqueThe summit of Col du Soulor with mountains in the backgroundPanorama of the Gabizos massif from Col du SoulorWinding road between Col du Soulor and Col d'Aubisque

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Atlantic - Cap Ferret

Fri Aug 21
101.1 km129 m climbingmax 60 m

Atlantic - Cap Ferret

101.1 km · 129 m climbing · max 60 m
60 m1 m0 km101.1 km
descent< 4 %4-7 %9-12 %

Map loads when visible.

Download GPX

The last day in the saddle is a different sport entirely: no summits, no altitude records, just flat road along the Atlantic from Biscarrosse to Cap Ferret. We're treating it as a victory lap after three brutal mountain days - light legs, salt air and the ocean the whole way. The route is flat as a table, 101 kilometres with a mere 129 metres of climbing, ideal for finally talking to each other instead of counting hairpins. In the evening we load up the bikes and share one last dinner together in Bordeaux.

The Cap Ferret lighthouse above the oyster beds of the Arcachon BayView of Cap Ferret from the Bélisaire jettyThe Dune du Pilat in morning light above the pine forestPanoramic view of the top of the Dune du PilatCap Ferret beach with oyster beds and the Arcachon BayEntrance to the Arcachon Bay with the Cap Ferret peninsula, seen from the Dune du PilatA traditional wooden pinasse boat on the Arcachon Bay

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

03 Our History

Fourth year, fourth mountain range - and the crew still keeps coming back.

  1. 2023

    Hintertux

    Zillertal, Austria

    Founding crew: Dušan, David, Dan

    This is where it all started - and also where Dan, our chief route planner and the guy who dreamed up and has been organizing the whole trip from day one, first dropped his catchphrase. He has a version for every route: "The Alps will blow you away, but this - this will move you to tears." On Hintertux he upgraded it to "that even this will move you to tears" - and he was right. People still tell the story of Dan's breakfast before that first mountain ride: a loaded plate, eggs, ham, a roll - followed by his suffering starting about a hundred metres of elevation in. Not a pro-racing legend, but OUR legend.

  2. 2024

    Passo dello Stelvio

    Italy

    + Marek joins

    The team at the Passo dello Stelvio / Cima Coppi 2,760 m sign

    Marek was first to the top - mysteriously, though, the route never showed up on his Garmin, and shuttle buses kept driving past the whole time, so who really knows. What actually happened that day remains unclear to this day, and Marek's first genuine conquest of the Stelvio may still be ahead of him.

    The whole crew at the Passo dello Stelvio - Cima Coppi 2,760 m signMarek above the Stelvio switchbacksSwitchbacks on the eastern ramp of the Stelvio from PratoAerial view of the Stelvio switchbacksPanorama of the Stelvio switchbacks from Monte ScorluzzoA cyclist in a hairpin turn on the Stelvio

    Photo: Wikimedia Commons

  3. 2025

    French legends

    Ventoux, Alpe d’Huez, Galibier, Côte d’Azur

    + Šimon joins

    The team at the finish of L'Etape Czech Republic

    Ventoux in genuinely miserable weather, past the memorials to riders who never finished the climb. Then Alpe d'Huez - and on its descent, our scariest moment yet: Dan tried a cocky, aggressive overtake on Dušan in one of the corners, overcooked his braking and went head first into a wall (all exaggerated, but the wall was real). Luckily it all ended well, and he spent the rest of the trip dutifully kibitzing. Col du Galibier and the closing victory lap along the Côte d'Azur thus happened without him - so the debt ledger reads: Marek (and Šimon with him) still owes the Stelvio, Dan owes the Galibier and the Côte d'Azur. The HC Energie Karlovy Vary jersey rode along with us, of course - that tradition doesn't break.

    All five of us at the Col du Galibier 2,642 m signThe whole crew above the switchbacksDušan and David at the Col du Galibier

    Photo: Wikimedia Commons

  4. 2026

    The Pyrenees, for the first time

    Tourmalet, Aspin, Hautacam, Aubisque + the Atlantic

    The whole crew

    Fourth year, new arena - and straight into the one where high-mountain cycling history was first written, back in 1910. This trip.

04 Photo Log

Daily posts straight from the road - once we set off.

The first post will show up once the trip starts.

05 Weather

Live forecast for the peaks - the mountains will do what they want anyway.

Forecast for the key points on the route, covering the days we are actually there, temperatures adjusted for elevation.

Lourdes

410 m elevation

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Col du Tourmalet

2115 m elevation

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Col d'Aspin

1490 m elevation

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Hautacam

1560 m elevation

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Col d'Aubisque

1709 m elevation

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Cap Ferret

5 m elevation

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Data: Open-Meteo

06 Travel & accommodation

Flights, the bike van, and where we sleep.

Flights

  • Mon Aug 17 - meet at 10:15 at Vaclav Havel Airport Prague, departure 11:15 via Amsterdam, arrival in Bordeaux 16:20.
  • Sat Aug 22 - departure 6:30, arrival in Prague 10:30.

Bike van

Bikes and luggage get handed off on Sunday Aug 16. The driver sets off with the van toward Bordeaux, and the riders meet up a day later at the airport.

Accommodation - Lourdes

Mon-Thu (Aug 17-20)

7 Impasse du Soum de Lanne, Lourdes, Occitanie 65100, France

Accommodation - Bordeaux

Thu-Sat (Aug 20-22)

Still being sorted - details to come.

07 Itinerary

Day by day, Sunday Aug 16 through Saturday Aug 22.

The route order is set. If needed, we reshuffle on the fly.

  1. Sun Aug 16

    Handoff and padel

    Bikes and luggage go into the van. Group padel (Dušan, David, Dan, Marek - Šimon sent his apologies, as usual he was somewhere mid-fall out of an airplane). The driver sets off with the van toward Bordeaux.

  2. Mon Aug 17

    Flight and transfer to Lourdes

    Meet at 10:15 at the airport in Prague, departure 11:15 via Amsterdam, arrival in Bordeaux 16:20. Meet the driver, transfer to Lourdes (~19:00 arrival), check in, dinner.

  3. Tue Aug 18

    Tourmalet and Aspin

    The queen stage right at the start. The name from our jersey, Eugène Christophe's forge and the pastoral Aspin with cows on the road.

  4. Wed Aug 19

    Hautacam

    The climb right above our base, the one from the window. Base in Lourdes stays the same, only the roads and the views change.

  5. Thu Aug 20

    Aubisque and transfer to Bordeaux

    Via the Cirque du Litor balcony road. After the finish we pack up and move to Bordeaux (~18:00 arrival), check in, an evening out, dinner.

  6. Fri Aug 21

    Atlantic and loading up

    A flat exhibition ride from Biscarrosse to Cap Ferret along the ocean. In the evening we load up bikes and luggage, last group dinner in Bordeaux.

  7. Sat Aug 22

    Return

    Departure 6:30, arrival in Prague 10:30. Bikes and luggage pickup on Saturday afternoon or Sunday (to be confirmed).

Contingency plan

If the weather in the Pyrenees turns bad, we extend the stay in Lourdes through Friday and skip the coastal ride near Bordeaux.

08 Practical

Contingency rules

  • Bad weather in the Pyrenees - extend the stay in Lourdes through Friday.
  • If we extend, we skip the coastal ride near Bordeaux.
  • The order of the three mountain days is set by the current forecast, not a fixed plan.

Checklist

  • •Road bike in working order (check brakes, gears, tires)
  • •Helmet - mandatory on all routes
  • •Clothing for heat and for cold on the peaks (at 2,100 m it can be cold and windy even in August)
  • •Power bank for navigation and phone
  • •Gels and energy bars for the mountain days - no shops on the route
  • •HC Energie jersey (mandatory annual promotion)