Les Trois Ballons - Anyone done it?

dinsdale81

Afternoon fellow cyclist,

A couple of colleagues and i have decided to tackle the Les Trois Ballons next year, among other domestic sportives, and was wondering if anyone on this illustrious website had rode it before.

Im just looking for advice on things to expect, whether there is any specific training i should be looking to do, techniques etc.

Also, does anyone know a good website/company/group through which to book and how early i can book. I know of the sportcommunication website but you can't book for next year yet. I didn't know if any other website allows early booking. We are looking at hopping on the eurostar and driving to the location but that depends on whether we can get a good alternative offer.

Any help/advice that could be offered would be greatly received.

Regards

Dale

sherer

i nearly rode this one this year but entered La Vaujany instead, both are by sport communication.

I think as long as it isn't the Marmotte then you won't have a problem with this being sold out. I am thinking of doing this as an earlier training ride for some of the later sportives in the Alps

The Vaujany got about 2000 people so I would expect this to be the same.

I didn't do enough training and would advise riding at least 4 times a week doing 40-50 rides during the week and 70 plus rides at weekends or longer if you can do it.

Practice spinning for getting up the climbs

knedlicky

I did the Trois Ballons in 2001 or 2002, I forget exactly which year. I probably only registered (directly with Sport Communication) about a month in advance, because that is my habit, and had no problem doing that.
The most difficult thing was finding cheap accomodation in the vicinity of the start. We must have ended up 25-30 km away, and as I think the start was at 7 am, we had to get up about 5 am, far earlier than I prefer.

The atmosphere in the start area was friendly and relaxed (in the village of Champagney?), and when not long underway, the race was suddenly interrupted by a rail crossing barrier coming down in front of most everyone, from which I benefited!

On the whole the climbs aren’t that difficult but they are longer than one finds in the UK if not so steep as those in the Lake District, etc. But also more in the woods, so not so exposed to the sun (it is likely to be warmer than in the UK just then).
Sort of similar in gradient to those in the Alps, just not so long. I rode 39/25 and you’ll need that or similar at times, depending on ability. The longer route (two are offered) can take its toll, both in distance and amount of climbing. If you’re uncertain, do the shorter route and ride the other half the following day, out of competition.

I found the most difficult climb that at the very end, up to Planche des Belles Filles, which isn’t as long as some earlier climbs but pretty steep, maybe 5-6 km at 10-20%, and which gives a mini-Alpe d’Huez feeling to the end (albeit closed-in and wooded, no views underway or at the top). But if you’re feeling nifty and confident when approaching it, there’s about 20-30 km of undulating terrain beforehand where you can make up any ground you’ve earlier lost or get a lead on your rivals before the ‘Belles Filles’.

At the top of Planche des Belles Filles there’s unfortunately not much, just a large parking lot surrounded by trees and nearby a couple of closed ski lifts for the winter (like some of those Pyrenneen Tour finishes). Also not much from Sport Communication in the way of food, drink, etc. I remember just a couple of tents with a little isotonic drink. Not much is provided in the way of freebies at the start either; I’m not even sure I got any free food or drink there, nevermind a T-shirt or similar. But I’d say it was more participant-friendly than the Marmotte, the more famous SP event.

SP is part of ASO and on the whole, compared to what other cyclosportive organisers provide, they are pretty tight or mean. Ask any regular French cycling enthusiast what he thinks of SP and you’ll find that, while most want to take part in the Marmotte, Vaujany, Trois Ballons, etc, at least one time in their lives, they rate SP events lower than most comparable cyclosportives in the same area.
In Alsace the ‘Ballons Vosgiens’ and ‘La Vosgienne’ are rated slightly higher than SP's ‘Trois Ballons’ (although I’m sure Trois Ballons would come top if just based on route).
In the area Rhône-Alpes, the ‘Marmotte’ is about 2/3 down the French cyclosportive enthusiast ratings, compared to similar events in the area, the poor rating probably based primarily on value-for-money than route.

As for getting there, why not consider flying to Strasbourg or Karlsruhe with one of the cheap carriers, and then hiring a (large enough) car.

Sorry to be so wordy; this is all from memory just sttting in front of the PC. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

term1te

Whilst I haven't ridden Les Trois Ballons, I have ridden in the area, and would agree with Knedlicky about the terrain. Undulating with the occasional big hill, unlike the Alps which where you have really big hills, and long flat valleys. The Tour is passing through this part of the world tomorrow if you want to get an ideas of the region from the TV. It will probably take you about 7 hours to drive from Calais, or if you want to fly you could also try Basel airport which isn't too far from the start.

knedlicky

I have to retract some of what I wrote about what was provided at the Trois Ballons.
When I looked through my T-shirts today, I found I did get given one (dated 2002) while my wife reminded me that I did get food at the finish, if not particularly interesting, appetising or tasty food.

It was a little meal on one of those plates with separate departments, and she knew because she ate most of it! (She didn’t ride, just met me at the finish, feeling famished from not having eaten all day, and so she would have eaten anything).

On the other hand, I’d say the food at the Trois Ballons feeding stations (fruit, dried fruit, cake, and baguettes pieces with cheese or ham) was above-average for a French feeding station in a cyclosportive. (In my experience, feed stations of cyclosportives in other countries are usually better than the typical French feed station in terms of selection and quantity).

Le Commentateur

Today's tour stage is in that area. Don't think it is taking in the same climbs, but the 1st cat climb in the middle of the stage is of a similar height.