haute route alps 2019

I grovelled over the climb, but had my moment of swashbuckle as I went down on the other side faster than a short skirt with too much lipstick. A combination of delightful sunshine, a very pretty village nestled in a valley of the alps, and the general sense of it all being a downhill run from here lulled more than one rider into a false sense of completion. May 30, 2019 pierce. Haute Route Pyrénées 2019: All you need to know, in five minutes. However it was great fun meeting everyone with familiar faces from previous events including a few from Norway just 3 weeks ago. About. Published on Aug 26, 2019 The Col des Saisies awaited the Haute Route Alps peloton this morning as they left Megève to start Stage 2 and headed … Herve is Michelangelo, to that rider’s Pro Hart. Sure – we knew that it was split into 2 stages, and that the first part involved going over the Cime de La Bonnette which at 2802m is the highest road in Europe. Stage 4: Alpe d’Huez to Col du Granon (Serre Chevalier) (80km/2400m). A long neutralised descent into St-Étienne-de-Tinée followed where we all regrouped for the start of stage 7B at 1045. 4th September 2019. FINISH: Zermatt, Switzerland. The Haute Route’s objective is to deliver an unparalleled 'professional' experience for amateur cyclists. This time round I’m definitely feeling much more relaxed (maybe too relaxed?). 2021 Haute Route Alps. A lovely swooping descent into Serre Chevalier valley followed. And I gained 2 places in the women’s GC. The practical element to holding Herve’s wheel was that he was easily the most efficient rider to follow on the subsequent fast, sketchy, and generally insane 30km descent down the back side of the mountain into the steep edges and Mediterranean weather of the final run to Nice. After a relatively gentle Stage 1, The HR officially became epic today. I felt fit and strong throughout the weekend except I now appear to be taking a long time to recover as my legs have turned to jelly since my return 2 weeks ago. Who knew that all that riding in Cyprus in March in that heavy rain would turn out to be excellent training! Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Stage 1 started with a neutralised start to the bottom of Bettex, the first climb. Missing home, but with an undeniable twinge, of the kind that reassures you that life is being lived as it was intended. I also learned that a lot of the guides based in Chamonix, France love working for Alpenwild because Alpenwild trusts the guides. Entranced by the hypnotic beauty of his pedal stroke, I was like a moth to a light bulb. Cue lots of passing of bikes over the barriers and sneaking under the tape when the organisers were distracted in order to gain a few valuable seconds (which actually didn’t matter anyway as timing didn’t start for another 8km). Stage 3. Haute Route Alps 2019 - Stage 7. Haute Route Alps BOOK NOW 22nd - 28th August 2021 (Arrival 21st August for registration, departure 29th August) The Haute Route is, quite simply, the best amateur cycling event that we've come across. So this final blog installment is as much a recollection of events before our demented and glycogen depleted brains forget everything that happened, as it is to write home and tell everyone how much fun we had…. So for the last 20km or so it was just Amandine and I working together towards the finish line. The other reason why I have been dreading today was the 24km drag up to the Col du Lauteret. Food consumed – 7 bottles, 3 Raw Velo bars, half a packet of Percy Pigs, several potatoes and cubes of cheese, a few bits of salami,4 crackers and 2 gels. From the top of the Glandon onwards I was back on very familiar territory that I know so well from many years of summer trips in the area. The hardest cycling sportive? By the time I got to the top I really felt invincible! And pacing the first 2 climbs whilst making sure I was fed and hydrated in order to arrive at the bottom of the Alpe with reasonably ok legs. However as it’s for bikes only, the road builders dispensed with niceties such as the need for hairpin corners – what followed were ramps of up to 16%, an absolute killer with 3000m of climbing in the legs already. Luckily it wasn’t as hot as we feared it could be as Alpe d’Huez can be like a furnace in the afternoon. Add to Basket. Thank you Angus! EFFORT: Difficult. Stage 4. HR Norway at the beginning of August was a great training block with 3 days of spectacular riding amongst the fjords near Stavanger. Events would show that most of the back third had overestimated theirs. TIP: To maximize fun levels, go with a guide who regularly does the tour. The pressure is well and truly on Maps to come good with that Fendi… kidneys or not. ... Trip Reports >> 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, ... Arolla marks the highest point reached on the trip and is a wonderful viewpoint across the whole of the Western Alps. The first hill over Le Bettex showed us where we live in the peloton food chain… neither T-Rex, nor ocean krill – maybe somewhere in range of a moderately dangerous marsupial with claws and a bad temper. He floated gently up the Col d’Madelaine, the first 25km climb in our gargantuan third stage. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The standard of climbing is incredibly high so I was pleased to even come in 23rd in the women’s GC, gaining 3 places on the final stage and significant time gaps. Prepare kit and bottles for the next day. On previous visits I’ve seen many a cyclist toiling up on their way to the Galibier and it’s a climb that has never appealed to me. This means not only delivering first class hospitality and event management, but all the key ingredients that make up the culture and experience of professional road racing. There were a few more lumps and bumps along the way but no more significant climbs. It was one of those days which made me feel extremely lucky to be out here in the Alps doing what I love. More valley riding! This was much closer to our familiar domain, and the schadenfreude in us both delighted to see some of the more vocal “lungs on legs” types squirm in this style of racing. The biggie. After 7 stages, many tears and lots of physio tape holding up... Lillian 4th September 2019. Wait until the late afternoon – it’s much much quieter. Posted on September 2, 2019 September 2, 2019 by Stuart Morgan It firmly remains on my list of climbs I never want to do again however! I was left to ride alone up the Col d’Glandon, the second of the three sisters who, although not unattractive in appearance, had quite the spiteful sting to that tail. 475 started in Megeve of which 45 were women; 401 completed all 7 stages. Caroline unfortunately had a mechanical and was waiting for Mavic support. Going over a bump something fell from his bike which was then crushed by his back wheel. Main cols included and the summit finish in Côte 2000. On a warm Saturday afternoon, the ninth annual Haute Route Alps reached its final destination on the seaside Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France. Our main obstacle was the Vars, but the peloton started with real intent to race. Then it’s the 1830 briefing, dinner, repack bag and sleep ASAP before the alarm goes off at 5am. Job done. I then randomly developed knee pain on the very first climb of Stage 1 which then threatened to derail my whole event for the rest of the week. Separate stages, totalling nearly 200kms, with one major climb in each. By now it was really hot – luckily Pra Loup is only a 6km climb. After a brief interlude in Saint Etienne de Tinée, the peloton restarted for the final lunge for Nice. Consequently my training has been less structured. All the ups, downs, and sideways of Maps and Morgs Mad Adventure. After being on quiet roads and empty ski resorts all week it was quite a shock to the system to be suddenly back in the city with all the cars and people. First Things First: Why the Pyrénées? Nine hours on the bike today. Geneva August 2017. I’d lost sight of my man-crush, Herve, and I felt the loss deeply. Though Alpenwild holds treks during optimal hiking months in the Alps, snow crossings are possibility on the Haute Route. We waved him good bye and left him at the start of the next climb up La Cry and from then on it was pretty much constant climbing (bar one short neutralised descent of a few km) all the way to Megève, cruelly past the race village, to finish up another 8km climb to the Cote 2000 above Megève. (I subsequently found out that 15 went down at the same corner in the group behind). However from then onwards, things picked up! However, in March the offer of a free entry courtesy of Eco Team Ne Jetez Plus, in return for working the kit check at registration day and promoting the “Do Not Litter” message during the event, to both HR Norway, and then followed by the Alps just a few weeks later seemed too good to turn down! With the Queen stage compete, Adrian and I both felt we had the measure of the remainder of the route. In fact the most dangerous part of the whole ride was probably along the sea side cycling path with cyclists, scooters, children and pedestrians randomly walking out in front of you. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. It is also nice to not have the stress of moving to a new hotel in a new town tonight. Well done you two, actually congratulations and very well done . Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Duration: 9 Days, 8 Nights Distance: Total of almost 800 km with over 22000 Metres Climbing Rider support and travel packages for the 2021 Haute Route Alps. This year's edition will run north-south from Megève to Nice over seven timed stages on some of cycling's most famous Alpine climbs. The answer was to, as Nemo would say, just keep pedalling, up. I don’t think I’ve been asleep that early since age 5! Finally into a comfortable hotel, and with only one day to go the sudden realisation that our adventure was coming to an end. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. But even so, when I woke up I didn’t particularly feel like doing a massive hill climb TT. Enjoy the company of the best staff in the business and hotels in great locations for the 2021 Haute Route Alps. In a move focused on providing unrivalled support for cyclists participating in all Haute Route events, Colnago has taken on the role of title partner for the iconic cycling series. With a clearer sense of reality, we both addressed day 2 with caution. A large group punched hard over a 2km initiation climb, followed by some roads best suiting the rouleur (including Col d’Pallon) to the base of Col d’Vars, 19km @ 8%. We’ve been so lucky with the weather all week – not too hot, not too cold, no rain…until the final long descent when it poured. This little beast climbed for 24km at 7%, and peaked at 2802m. However today was the first and last short stage (except for the ITT which comes on Stage 5) – from tomorrow onwards the epicness scale ramps up. La Haute Route Alps 2019. Final day – it’s all downhill to Nice from here, right? Haute Route Alpe d’Huez 2019 My Alpe d’Huez Fest is over for the year, having now climbed it 4 times from 3 different sides this week. It’ll be 7 days before I see it again in Nice. None of us really paid much attention to Stage 7 when the road book arrived. By now the sun was shining and all there was left was a gentle roll down the hill (finally) to the official finish on the Promenade des Anglais. Haute Route Alps 2019 - Stage 6 by hauteroutetv. Think about that rider we all know with an ill-fitting high-viz jersey from Rebel Sports, crooked helmet, hairy legs, and an ungainly pedal stroke that says “my knees are entities unto themselves, and will go wherever, and whenever they choose in the act of motivating a push bike”. It’s a climb which should be on every cyclist’s bucket list – it’s beautiful and tough – but it joins a select list of climbs* I never ever want to do again. Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), VTT en Oisans / MTB in Oisans Translated (2019), The Plateau d’Albion: Missiles and Michelin Stars, Trophée du Muveran 2019 (8 Lessons from a Ski-Mo Newbie), 3 Peaks Cyclocross Race (5 things I wish I’d known), Directeur Sportif (Haute Route Dolomites 2018), Wilson Trail / Outdoor Hong Kong (Part 5), The X Files (Lessons learned in my first season of racing cyclo-cross), Granfondo Gassin Golfe de Saint-Tropez 2016, Rock Climbing in Switzerland (Practical Information), Tour de Mont Blanc (Practical Information). As mentioned in a previous post, finishing that stage was only half the battle, and it was best to keep the helmet on and the elbows out in order to get a hotel room, dinner and a massage. Dropping further into the valley for the first 35km, the bunch tipped 50-60km/hr for, what felt like forever… I found my main man Herve again for the final major climb up to Saint Martin (16km at 6.2%). Haute Route, the world’s leading cycling event series, and Colnago, the most storied cycling brand in the world, have announced an exciting new partnership. I spent a rather miserable an hour and a half, often by myself, trying to hold any wheels that came by for as long as I could but letting them go before doing too much damage. Every day, as soon as you cross the finish line it doesn’t mean you can now relax, for this is when the second part of the “race” begins – recovery drink straight away, booking in for your massage (everybody gets 15 minutes), having lunch, then shower and massage. So – kit all prepped, bottles are made up, and the bike is ready. As the road opened this summer, the tarmac was beautiful and smooth. So the legs will be particularly tired and heavy. Taken in its entirety, the last day was a whopper! The peloton of … Just glad you are both coming home regardless of the state you are in!! However, it’s worth noting that in the Alps most hotels, mountain refuges and restaurants close in October and November to take a break before the winter season commences. And sure enough they did – what then followed was the most fun part of the HR so far – being in fast and cooperative chain gang and overtaking other groups in the valley. The Haute Route is the pinnacle of amateur stage racing. Stage 7, climbed Cime d’la Bonnette, allegedly the highest mountain road in Europe. Famous hiking trails in Europe finished on the bike firmly remains on my list of I! You ’ d learned to follow a highly stylish euro-classique rider by the hypnotic beauty of pedal! 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