Holy-crap - I appear to have just entered the 2013 l'Etape du Tour

Made sense to do it this year as:

- It's the first time I've seen it be a loop which means that I could just enter the race without having to pay through the nose for a 'package' which normally includes transport/luggage nonsense.

- It's only a couple of hours away from here this year (Annecy) which'll make the logistics easier.

- It's the shortest (only 130km) Etape I've seen in ages which means I've got a better chance of finishing alive!

So.....that's that then!

I'd better get that new frame built up and then put some miles in :D

Anyone else doing it next year?

Where is it gairy? Looked at back in '05 and but went for a holiday instead. As you say really expensive for us lot booking through agents.

It's in Annecy.

So close to Lyon, Grenoble, Geneva etc... for those who might be traveling from Blighty

The fact that it starts and finishes in the same(ish) place clinched it for me as there's no need to bother with all the expense of an organised thingy.

thinking about it???

Not quite the same but down for the Tour of Flanders next March - beers and moules and racing the day after... from a nice warm bar in Ghent I think.
Have fun* on the Etape Gairy - I'd like to have a crack at one of them in the future! I haven't looked but massive hills involved?
*possibly Type 2 fun obviously

99percentchimp wrote:I haven't looked but massive hills involved?

not as bad as it might have been :?

here's a list of the climbs:

Côte de Puget (5,4 km à 5,8%)
Col de Leschaux (3,6 km à 6,2%)
Côte de Aillons-le-Vieux (6 km à 4%)
Col des Prés (3,5 km à 6,5%)
Col du Mont-Revard (16 km à 5,4%)
Montée finale du Semnoz (11 km à 8,3%)

is it a version of the Tour of Flanders you'll be doing (like the Etape) or are you actually 'in' the race???

I was in Annecy a couple of years ago and rode a few cols.

Col de Leschaux is a really nice climb. The toughest one I rode when I was there was the Col de la Forclaz - 8.2km at 8% average.
Drove up Semnoz to take the kids to a luge thing at the top. Was steady from the bottom but then got steep towards the top.

You should really enjoy it!

I've thought a few times about doing the Flanders sportive but cobbles and spring weather don't mix!

Not for me in 2013, will be in The Rockies:-) I know they did 2 etape's last year and thought one might be nearer you. I have ridden in Annecy area but don't recall any of those col's. They must just be doing the easy ones;-)

Also ridden Flanders which was a great day out. Did the 140km option which started and finished at Oudenaarde that year, I know the finish altered for 2012. Did all the climbs and cobbles sections of the pro's without the added 100km through Northern Belgium. Weather was good. Only thing worse than climbing on cobbles was descending on them!

Belgium is a great place to ride, toured through again last summer.

is it a version of the Tour of Flanders you'll be doing (like the Etape) or are you actually 'in' the race???

Dear god no.... not the race! I plan on some post ride rehydration in a Ghent bar with the race on the tele.... we're doing the Ronde the day before (big, cheap to enter, continental stylee sportive)..... a bit like an Etape for the classics (I'm sure you can have a crack at Paris/Roubaix the day before too).
Look's like a good day for you Gairy - was it expensive without the whole 'package deal' stuff... the ToF was 25 euros

Fair enough - I realised after reading up on the the Tour of Flanders a bit more that it was unlikely that you were a pro tour rider moonlighting as a bikepacker!

Shows how ignorant I am of the road riding scene in general (I know nothing that I haven't learned from watching Le Tour infrequently).

99percentchimp wrote:was it expensive without the whole 'package deal' stuff

Still cost me €95 (I missed the introductory €75 price by deliberating too long about the whole thing :( ).

I suppose it's because it's become one of those events that pseudo-serious roadies do and brag about in order to prove how hardcore they are (pah!).

Still, it was on my 'list of thing to have done' and so.....

I think I might be the only person on the start line in baggies