“You are murderers, yes, murderers!” Addressed to the organizers, Octave Lapiz He uttered one of the most legendary phrases in the history of cycling in 1910. Almost as fictional as the man responsible for his great rage that so heated his tongue as he caught his breath: the Col du Tourmalet.
The Tourmalet did not kill Lapize, no, on the contrary, it gave him fame by being the first cyclist to crown it in his debut in Tour de France: The summit began its mystique with him and gave more emphasis to the biggest victory of his short career, because days later he was the last winner of the French round.
Lapize was killed by First World War seven years later, when he served as a fighter pilot in the French army and was shot twice by the German enemy: he survived the first shot, but not the second, which occurred two weeks later. It was 1917 and he was only 29 years old.
Over the years, Tourmalet has expanded its legend to become the most popular cycling port with L’Alpe d’Huez. Tourmalet is even synonymous with toughness when making any sporting comparison.
That setting, the most mythical mountain of the Tour, with a great history behind it, will crown this Friday a fantastic day with four climbs totaling 135 km, two in the special category (Aubisque, Tourmalet)one of the 1st (Spandelles) and another 3rd (Portalet)hardness and short mileage, the perfect profile for the favorites to take out the battle without so much fear of fainting as caused by a very long stage.
Portalet (4.4 kms at 5.4% average gradient), Aubisque (16.6 kms at 7%), Spandelles (10.4 kms at 8.1%) and Tourmalet (18.8 kms at 7.4 % and last kilometer at 9.9%) will mark a route that pleasant with attacks , counterattacks, tactics, everything, because the Vuelta is really starting to clear its landscape.
Sepp Kussthe leader of the Vuelta, is feeling strong and is even challenging his team leaders to Jumbo-Visma, Primoz Roglic (4th at 1’32”) and Jonas Vingegaard (7th in 2’22”). “It doesn’t matter who wins the team, me, Roglic or Vingegaard. Now I’m in the lead and we’ll see how far I can go with the goal of winning the Vuelta, but I’m confident and I’ll try,” said the American.
Roglic, three-time Vuelta champion (2019, 2020, 2021), and Vingegaard, two-time Tour champion (2022, 2023), are not the only candidates for the final red jersey. The next two Pyrenean stages will further clarify the panorama, which is now in Catalan Marc Soler (2nd to 26″) and the Belgian Remco Evenepoel (3rd in 1’09”) as the first Kuss chasers.
“Many things will happen. We will see many runners trying to attack, many struggling, many defending, there will be a little bit of everything. I am very happy to run for the first time in the Pyrenees, it will be something new for me. I am very excited and I hope it ends well for us,” Evenepoel said.
A lie, both historical, is the beginning of Tourmalet’s journey to legend. Sent by Henri Desgrangeone of the founders of the Tour, to find favorable terrain in the Pyrenees for a great stage, to the journalist Alphonse Steinès He was surprised by a heavy downpour of snow as he recognized the slopes of the Tourmalet.
Steinès almost died that day: he slipped on the ice, fell into the stream and, exhausted, then collapsed in the snow before local lifers rescued him.
Despite his fear, Steinès lied in his telegraphed message to Desgrange because he sensed the fierce battle that could take place there in a bicycle race. “Crossed Tourmalet. Great route. Perfectly practical.” The rest is history, now it’s real. What does Tourmalet mean? ‘Road of evil return’. There.
A statue of a silver cyclist looks gaunt at the top of the Tourmalet. This is Octave Lapiz. A place of pilgrimage for novice cyclists and of suffering and glory for professionals, whether in their natural habitat, the Tour, or elsewhere, this Friday at the Vuelta a España.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
