Day 2- In the wheeltracks of Chiapucci!

Aiming to start at 10.00am each day seems easy, but we are all aware of the Shelley factor and the knock on effect it can have for days. In light of this, 10.30 ain't bad.

Now, Briancon is already quite high up, some 700m above sea level, and sits at the foot of the Cols de Lauteret, Izoard and Mongenevre...there is a steady road out though. And so we go along the road to Haut Vallee to the foot of the Col d'Echelle to warm the legs up before introducing the Alpine virgins in the group, Paul, Tim and Dewi, to some proper scenery.

15km out and the climb starts, the bodies start to stretch out as you can see above, but just 3km of climbing here takes us to a plateau, then straight onto the breakneck descent to the winter olympic town of Bardoneccia...11km of tight hairpins and sweeping straights, finishing with an 80kph run into Italy...Dewi's ear to ear grin at the bottom sums it up.

Tim Johnson, to your left here, needs putting into context early on. 6'2" and 14 solid stone with wrists bigger than my ankles, I fear for him on the longer climbs, he isn't made for this...bwuhaahaaahaaa, what a ringer he turns out to be.

The valley road to Oulx is over quickly, and with less traffic than usual, then to Cessana where we fill the bottles from a fountain, douse heads and necks to cool down, cos it's hot already, then onto Sestriere.

The climb to the ski resort is just 11km, but starts at 12% and after an easy middle section, kicks up again to the town. Gareth takes off for some solo training leaving the rest of us to grind up in 1s and 2s. Sestriere, for those who don't know their 1990's cycling histrory, is where Claudio Chiapucci sealed the King of the mountains with an epic solo ride, and Indurain sealed the fate of the rest of the peleton with his brutal solo chase behind.

Seen here is Dewi Hughes, lucky to be out really. Just 8 weeks ago Dewi was lying in Intensive Care with 2 fractured vertebrae, broken ribs and a folding TT frame after his midweek encounter with a cow (he was looking at her pint).

Of all the bizarre sights, we found the General Lee on the summitt...no sign of Daisy though.

Lunch in the french version of the Terminator classic bar, Tech Noir (judging by the soundtrack), and then the glorious descent off the mountain...fast straights, sweeping bends and a hot wind before the final few hairpins at the bottom, then onto the climb of Mongenevre to return to Briancon.

This climb is my bete noir, never been able to ride it comfortably, much to Meirion's amusement.

Just 7 km of climbing with a couple of tunnels though, then sweep into Briancon for the first post ride mass cafe stop in the town square.

Training camps are hellish, don't you think?

Simon Miles: 65

What we've learned today: Gareth McGuinness, current TLI National Champion for his age group, started racing just three years ago. He lists his previous interests as drinking, smoking anf fighting, and reckons he was better at all three than he is at racing...scary thought.