**COMPLETED !! **

I was able to scrape in before the broom car on a miserable, wind and rain swept day, I took my time and tried to hold a constant cadence . The 60mi up to the foot of the Tourmalet was good until I hit the monster ride to the col at 2115m which was relentless - moving in to cloud level around 1200m. A frost covered whizz in to the Hautacam valley to Argeles at the foot of Hautacam was the highlight of the day !

The 'drier' ride up Hautacam was easier even though the ride up was a staccato vs Tourmalet's constant lactate inducing grind. The relief on reaching the Flamme Rouge - the last Kilometer - was immense, I had just completed this brutal Etape and two back to back Hors Categorie mountains, a definite first for me!

Thank you all for your support and sponsorship - this will help COTA a lot in financing the 15 projects run in Colombia. The whole excercise for me is even sweeter now that Ingrid Betancourt has been released by the FARC - there is always hope for this beautiful country!

oh and my time was 10.09, 11mns before the broom car.

Gracias a Todos!

KR

PS: I am very close to reaching £5000 pls help me reach that level - do not forget my employer has a matching policy!

 ** *Where it all started***

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

Many of you may know I will be attempting to complete the Etape du Tour de France on July 6th 2008, the exact same stage the professionals will completing on July 14th. After months of training - mainly in the hills and getting my fitness/strength up to a level where I can finally attempt to climb a marathon's length of mountain kilometers in the Pyrenees with my 6 foot 2 Dutch flat country frame....

The stage is 160km from Pau to Hautacam via the Col du Tourmalet (a Hors Categorie mountain @ 2115m - a 25km climb) finishing at Hautacam (a Hors Categorie climb too with a 15km run up).

Check the etape on: http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/COURSE/fr/1000/etape_par_etape.html

The picture on the left is the ride down hill from right to left off the Col du Tourmalet.

I have had many cycling heroes in my past who influenced my cycling obsession - many were French, Italian, Belgian and Dutch who I followed avidly every summer during the Tour in the late Seventies and Eighties. I had never met any in the flesh until I lived in Colombia where I met Lucho Herrera - the first AMATEUR winner of a tour Etape (1984 - in the Alpe d'Huez) and Fabio Parra, two of the most humble riders in the peloton.

This has inspired me to ride the Etape for charity and I have chosen the Children of the Andes for many reasons - the memories of this amazing country that has all going for it to succeed but is caught in the longest civil war violence in history and mired by the drug cartels, the many orphanages in Colombia I visited and for the inspiration of the Colombian riders who laughed when I asked them in my teens if I could ever become a climber like them.

Children of the Andes (COTA) was established in 1991 to support children living on the streets and in the sewers of Bogotá, following a documentary by the British film-maker Desmond Wilcox which illustrated the work of Jaime Jaramillo and Fundación Niños de los Andes - Subachoque.

Today, it has expanded to support over 15 project partners, assisting thousands of children affected by poverty and violence. COTA continues working with street children but has expanded the focus to include other vulnerable children, like pregnant teenagers, children with special needs or victims of sexual exploitation, who need help too.

You can find more information about all the organization that COTA supports and how exactly they are helping them in www. childrenoftheandes.org

Therefore please dig deep and sponsor me online

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Children Of The Andes will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

Many thanks for your support.

Karel

PS for those who enjoy TdF nostalgia:
Lucho's first win:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Z4Y8L3l0Q&NR=1
Fabio Parra's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW-5caE6Y7E&NR=1