Etape Entry Anxiety!!

steerpike

Apologies for starting another thread on this....I have a specific quandry that I cannot decide upon.

I'm planning on entering my 1st Etape this year, for charity. I have a guaranteed secured entry only place through Cyclomundo - though they require payment by COP today. It's €195.00.

However, a couple of english run tour companies have offered for me to use their address on the Velo entry form to improve my chances and say I have a very high chance of getting through this way for only €50!!!

I could well do with saving €145 at this time of year but am a bit anxious of missing the boat if I choose the Velo route.

Any advice? experiences? Anyone know If I can enter multiple forms through Velo as I can use a number of french addresses!! (presume not!!)

bahzob

I thought of trying to go this way (using some friends address in France) but decided against for a couple of reasons
- If the entry via velo is oversubscribed then you take you chance in a lottery (and my guess 2009 will be one of the more popular ones as it combines easier route with mythic finish)
- You need to provide a medical certificate along with entry. Since even Clouseau could spot the difference between a French and UK form starts getting complicated here.

Happy to be proved wrong, indeed if you or others go this way would like to know as would be useful for future years.

richa

The €50 is cheaper but high risk. It's like the London Marathon, its a lottery and many don't get an entry.

If you fancy doing the Etape then I'd suggest that you go for the €195. Its good to know you have your entry sorted now, so that you can focus on your training & build up plan with 7 months in hand, rather than find out in Feb/March.

steerpike

thanks guys. Just paid up my entry now as I agree it's not worth the risk. Just wondering, in case I lose a leg between now and the race date, am I able to pass on my entry to someone else? (guessing I may not recoup the full price)

ugo.santalucia

Advice?

Do the route another day on your own and save even the 50 euros!

I think it's ridiculous to pay that money for a granfondo... let alone just to buy a ticket in the hope of winning a place in a granfondo.

The Etape is just to show off, there are equally good and hard sportives where you don't have to prostitute to get a place.

My advice is boycott these events!

lochindaal

I don't know why ugo. you want to get involved in this post. If that is your opinion on doing the Etape why try and ruin it towards the OP who obviously wants to do it.

Personally the only reason I am now cycling is because a friend mentioned the Etape and gave me a challenge to get on my bike.

Yes it is expensive but it is a once in a lifetime experience. I am not sure how I am showing off by getting fit and so far raising nearly £1,000 for charity. It seems the benefits far out weigh the monetary cost.

If I live to be 80 it's cost me £2 a year for a day out I'll hopefully never forget.

ugo.santalucia

lochindaal wrote:

I don't know why ugo. you want to get involved in this post. If that is your opinion on doing the Etape why try and ruin it towards the OP who obviously wants to do it.

Personally the only reason I am now cycling is because a friend mentioned the Etape and gave me a challenge to get on my bike.

Yes it is expensive but it is a once in a lifetime experience. I am not sure how I am showing off by getting fit and so far raising nearly £1,000 for charity. It seems the benefits far out weigh the monetary cost.

If I live to be 80 it's cost me £2 a year for a day out I'll hopefully never forget.

The point is, I used to go to the stadium to see Juventus for 2 pounds, now going to a match is only for the wealthy. Events like this risk to drive the all granfondo movement to nonsense. If they charge so much, everyone will feel entitled to charge a bit more, until they'll all be out of reach. Most Sportives in the UK are now at 25 pounds or more, how long before they get to 100 pounds?
As I said, there are equally good challenges, less publicised, which cost a lot less...
exmples... in France you have the Dauphine Challenge, in Savoy, way better than the horrible Mont Ventoux (how fun can it be to climb it at 40 degrees in July?) without all the hassle of shortlisting and begging for a place and equally hard.
You like Italy? "Giro delle Valli Monregalesi" leads you over Pratonevoso where the Tour arrived last year, 3000 entrants, two years ago when I did it, it was 15 euros and you could enter on the day. You can do the Eroica in Tuscany, 200 Km with 3000 mt ascent and half of it on gravel roads, stunning, 15 euros including meal at the end. You can do the "granfondo delle Prealpi Biellesi" with arrival at Oropa, where Pantani won in '99, 25 Pounds, admittedly a bit expensive, but you can enter whenever you want.
You can do the Granfondo Pantani and the 9 colli. You can do The entire Tour of Flanders the day before the PRO for a fiver or so...
Why should be subsidise those bastards charging fortunes to ride on public roads?

It's a shame