Riding multiple stages of the Tour de France is a massive undertaking – not only athletically, but also logistically and, perhaps most importantly, mentally. With an experience as all-encompassing as Le Loop, there will always be a few surprises lying in store. Riding back-to-back 200km days sounds daunting, but riders often find the real challenges are rather more subtle than that – or that aspects of Le Loop they’d been dreading turn out not to be so bad after all.

I always try to ask riders, after a few days on the road, if there’s anything that’s surprised them – they almost always have an answer on the tip of their tongue. If this is the first time you’re riding a multi-stage event like Le Loop, here are a few of the things you might not be expecting.

1. You’ll get stronger as you go. It doesn’t seem to make sense – after all, you’d assume that tiredness is cumulative, and the more days you spend in the saddle, the more exhausted you’ll feel. This is true to an extent (you’ll appreciate those rest days). But most riders also find that they settle into the ride, and if riding for a week or more, the later stages start to feel like a breeze. This is worth remembering if you have teething problems– the first 2-3 stages are often the hardest.
2. The real struggle is mental. “The emotional side came as a bit of a surprise to me,” said more than one rider after the 2019 tour. And quite a few others reported that they’d been temporarily knocked sideways by some intense feelings they didn’t know were there. Riding long distances over multiple days has a way of stripping you bare emotionally, and it’s quite common to end up facing life’s big questions halfway up a Pyrenean col. This can ultimately be a positive experience – many riders go back to their lives having found clarity, made big decisions or worked through issues they’d been avoiding – but it can be difficult to get through at the time. Remember that your fellow riders will have had similar experiences along the way, and that what you’re going through is a completely normal part of riding Le Loop. And although it can be hard to remember it at the time, all things pass, and if you keep going, you’ll eventually ride out from under your dark cloud, and back into the sunshine.
3. You probably won’t be the slowest (but if you are, it really won’t matter.) This is something that everyone worries about – even people who end up at the front of the pack most days. In reality, riders will sort themselves into groups fairly quickly and organically, and no matter what your speed, you’ll find a bunch to ride with that will keep you ticking along at a comfortable pace. Most riders realize within a couple of days that the only way they’re going to get through this is by setting a sustainable pace – speed is less important than just keeping going, and even if you’re a very ‘steady’ rider, there are massive gains to be made by setting off promptly and not hanging around at feed stops. And if you actually are the slowest? No one else will care – they’ll be far too worried about their own progress to think about yours. Keep riding, and keep enjoying yourself.