The ride, the ultimate ride from Geneva to Nice over the Alps finished last week. It was truly a window into the world of a full time cyclist, where it was impossible to think of anything but cycling.
Typical day - (read EVERY day): Wake early, breakfast 2 hours before the start then pack the bags, check the tyres at the Mavic car and do the main event of the day. After the ride, its eat as much as possible (some tasty and varying food was provided) have a shower then massage from the beautiful ladies of the French massage academy (yes it really was as good as it sounds), possibly a Compex electronic massage to follow then find the chalet/bomb shelter/school hall where we'd been allocated to sleep for the night. Then 5.30 is the prize giving, and its worth hanging around for the lottery as 2 Look carbon frames were given away, 1 Compex system and a weeks ski lift pass amongst others just for being present. 6pm is the briefing of the day, in French and English, showing an expertly crafted video and photos of the days stage. General information about the next days stage is read out, then its a case of finding a restaurant which will serve food as quickly as possible as most people just want to eat then sleep. There are a few bottles of wine drunk, but 1 bottle between friends and not a bottle each which might be seen on less serious tours.Basically it was all one continuous event, the days flowed along with routine, even if the start times varied between stages. I would say 90% of the riders were new to multi day sportives, but then where else can you do a multi day event? The guys and gals of Edinburgh Road Club might be different there, as they have seen several editions of the Transalp.
I might just return to this post and add highlights and expand later when I remember them, but here are some for starters:
Following the wheel of Alain Prost from top to bottom of Col de la Madelaine - he must have been having a bad day! Indeed, I passed him on the final 1-2km of the descent, then left him in the valley. He resigned halfway up Col du Glandon, so unable to cycle the whole event as intended.
Cycling from Vernay to Alpe d'Huez with Sami Inkinen, a Finnish triathlete. He had just taken part in Ironman Sweden, with a 8hr 24, putting in a 2hr 56m marathon, then taken 2 days break to join in HauteRoute on day 3! In the time trial, he was 15th!
Completing day 3, Courchavel to Alpe d'Huez on a very hot day. Definitely the toughest stage, I had a tough time on the Glandon on the the verge of cramping up in my calves. Ate and drank plenty at the refreshments on top of the col and so recovered well, but was a total wimp on the descent. Its a very fast, steep and straight piece of road - I prefer the ones with hairpin bends.
Riding as hard as possible on the time trial, and realizing that its possible to recover to ride the next day.
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| Col d'Izoard |
Scenery on Cime de la Bonnette.
Descent through the bright red rocks of Gorge du Cian.
Great motorbike support and marshaling for the full route.
Perfect weather. (A week later, as I write this, theres snow on the Bonnette and AlpenBrevet is cancelled due to freezing temps and snowy passes!)
Spectators with hosepipes! A brief cold shower is worth an extra gear.
| 136th; 04:00:40 + 00:53:33 Col de Romme: 171st 00:45:07 Col de la Colombieres 154th 00:38:09 Col des Aravis 106th 00:29:49 | |
 | 113th; 03:56:05 + 00:42:16 Col des Saisies: 92nd 00:46:04 Courchavel: 105th 01:00:27 Overall: 120th; 07:56:45 + 01:35:49 |
 | 146th; 06:03:07 + 01:38:53 Col de la Madelaine: 127th 01:42:22 Col du Glandon: 138th 01:36:20 Montee de l'alpe d'huez: 65th 01:15:19 Overall: 124th; 13:59:52 + 03:14:42 |
 | 101st; 59:31 +17:11 Overall: 122nd 14:59:23 + 03:31:53 |
 | 97th; 04:41:31 + 00:44:41 Col du Lauteret: 69th 01:09:13 Col d'Izoard: 141st 01:19:34 Montee de Risoul: 57th 00:51:56 Overall: 112th; 19:40:54 + 04:16:34 |
 | 53rd; 04:14:06 + 00:42:10 Col de Vars: 47th 01:09:06 Cime de la Bonnette: 46th 01:36:16 Montee de Auron: 62nd 00:19:41 Overall: 105th; 23:55:00 + 04:58:44 |
 | 71st; 04:09:19 + 00:30:51 Col de Couillole: 79th 01:04:18 Col de St Raphael: 65th 00:26:02 Col de Vence: 58th 00:38:33 Overall: 97th; 28:04:19 + 05:29:35 |
