Tour of Lac Leman - anyone done it?
paulgw
Posts: 135
There is a sportive around Lac Leman Switzerland in early June. The 180km route appears to follow the lake shoreline so I guess there are no big hills to go up and down.
Has anyone out there done this ride - and if so how was it and would you recommend it?
Has anyone out there done this ride - and if so how was it and would you recommend it?
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I've ridden around the lake but not the cyclosportif. It's flat and straightforward. But beautiful with spectacular views of the crystal clear water and the wooded peaks of the Jura and snow-capped Mont Blanc and the roads are the smoothest I've know. Switzerland is Europe's best kept secret.0
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Thanks, Kleber. I think you have sold it to me!0
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The eastern end of the lake is nice and scenic. I know someone who rode the sportive and she told me it wasn't very challenging – so you're right, it's not going to rival the Marmotte or the Alpenbrevet. But easy to get to and worth doing if you combine it with a holiday.0
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I'm intending on riding it this year but registering is proving to be a nightmare. The organisers won't accept a credit card and don't seem to understand the concept of an IBAN number for a direct bank deposit.
I eventually resorted to a foreign bank draft which they claim not to have received even although it was tracked to the address on their website!
I'm running out of options so let me know if you have any success in registering.0 -
Stu, I was intending on pinging them an email next week once I have commitment from a couple of mates. I'll let you know via this thread if I have similar problems. Thanks for the heads-up.0
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Hey, Stu99, did you do the Lac Leman sportive? I did it with 5 mates and it was great. I finished in 5 hours 59 running time with an official time of 6.14 which I was really pleased with. I thought it was a great event - well organised and a good route. We foolishly booked into a hotel in the town about 3.5 miles uphill from the Stade which was a sting in the tail at the end of the ride. Anyone else do it?0
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Paul - yes - completed this event on Sunday with a ride time of 5hrs 43 min (overall certificate time of 6hrs 07 mins) - it was a fantastic route - scenic and without the hills that occasionally take the enjoyment out of UK sportives. I had plenty of reserve left at the end although this might have been helped along by the 3 energy drinks I had en route (equivalent to Red Bull I think - they certainly worked for me)!
It was great to ride in some big groups - one pelaton passed our group in the French section with about 200 on board - looked spectacular. Another small (professional-looking) pelaton passed us on a slight uphill stretch with a speed I would estimate as close on 45-50kms/hour while the rest of us were doing about 30kms/hour flat out.
It seemed to me that the standard of cycling discipline was also better than I've witnessed in the UK - people hold their line and don't try and overtake you on the inside (I found this to be a bit of a problem on the Etape Caledonia).
Definitely one for next year!0 -
I was in a massive peleton from before Montreux and round to the first drink stop - wonder if it was the one you refer to - we were going at betwen 35 and 40 kph for about 25 km - awesome!
I thought the discipline was very good as well - good signalling of hazards etc. I had a couple of those energy drinks but hit a bit of a wall round Thonon where I was on my own for a few km and lost some time. Well done on your time - our group came it at between 5.40 and 7.40 ish so we were quite strung out by the end.0 -
There was a very organised club group over from France using a racing tandem to work at around 45kmh around the course. I waited around at the start to pick up this express train which helped me post a very nice time!0
