Stage 2 - A Windy Ride to Tudela

Hard data of the day 

Day: Monday 11 May 2026
From: Pamplona
To: Tudela

#kilometers: 117 km
#Altitude: 1,000 m
#Average speed: 28.2 km/h
#Wind: Headwind
#Weather: Final rainfall at the end of the ride

Hero of the day

Philippe D.

Trivia of the day

David R. receives the trivia of the day for enthusiastically convincing the group to try the marinated anchovy tapas, only to discover he was the only one who did not get one.

Story of the day

Last night we all felt sorry not to have taken with us our dancing shoes. It was a real challenge to find the right spot to have our dinner. After some discovery walks through the hotel we were finally installed close to an area with an ongoing Spanish local kids party. When a man appeared holding a bunch of balloons our new participating cycling partners were convinced a welcome celebration was held for them joining this event. Sorry guys,..

The breakfast at 7 am sharp this morning was one I will never forget.The area was completely overwhelmed by pushy German and Chinese tourists. I took a plate and I put a croissant and a brioche on it. Before I could take some butter my two pastries had vanished. Luckily Deloitte cycling partners are very disciplined, they would never dare to grab something that does not belong to them.

Before the start of the ride Philippe D. stood beside me when I switched on my Garmin. Because my device is connected to a radar a loud noice indicates upcoming traffic behind the peloton. Phil revealed to me that he was restless all day yesterday because he thought his defibrillator was sounding an alarm. 

Philippe gave me the permission to tell his story. In 2006 Phil suffered a cardiac arrest. He was saved because his wife refused to give up on the reanimating efforts. After his recovery since 2008 Philippe joined every partner ride. It’s amazing how Phil’s  determination and passion brings him to a level of never giving up. So Phil, of course you are the hero of the day. 

I also want to thank Patrick to assist Phil and some others to make their journey as comfortable as possible. Some other partners were inspired by Tom W’s example of yesterday and helped other people to close the gap with the peloton. Thank you Fred and Joris and probably others that I did not notice. 

The journey started with a steep climb which inspired Fred DB for an  immediate attack. Arriving at Biarritz Fred DB was the proud owner of 24 friends, I’m pretty curious how many friends he’ll still have in Valencia. Donald N. handled his attack more smartly, he took Marc M. with him so no retaliation expected from the peloton. Congrats Donald, your attack was really impressive. It took the peloton ages to catch up with you.

As the trivia of the day I would like to mention that David R. generously offered his help to the restaurant owner to distribute the toothpicks with marinated anchovies, olives and peppers. David is a real salesman. He convinced his fellow partner that this tappa seemed to be delicious. All the partners agreed upon. After the distribution David found out he was the only one who didn’t get one. 

Arriving at Tudela we discovered a nice square in the city center and we decided to have a drink before moving to our destination in the hotel. The pub with a nice Terras served as an ideal end of the ride.All of a sudden, two Spanish youngladies approached this group of trained cyclists.The bike of one of the ladies was jammed, they begged us for help. Before Kortweg crossed our path the writer of this blog also assisted the group in his capacity of amateur bike mechanic.
I wasn’t really in the mood for a bike repair demonstration but the chestnut brown Spanish eyes and peer pressure made me give in.

With the help of Donald’s little tool the blocked front derailleur could be freed. The young ladies were over the moon and could proceed their journey.

Not only Donald’s tool helped me, I was also assisted by a real consultant Christian C. who stood next to me. He regularly gave me a small napkin so that I wouldn’t get my hands dirty.I noticed some suggestions coming from the fellow partners to nominate myself as the hero of the day. This is really not done, so I refuse, but I am very willing to nominate Christian C. as the napkin hero of the day. 

I’m looking forward to our queen ride of tomorrow.