UK Sportives v Etape .. in terms of difficulty

snaffledog

suppose its an oft asked question.

I am considering taking in part in the Etape or equivalent next season, depending on availability.

How do the UK hilly sportives compare in terms of required strength/fitness ?

2009 has been my first foray into sportives, I have completed the following events :-

Tour Of The Peak - 97 miles
Cumberland challenge - 107m
Dave Lloyd MIDI - 108m
Spud Riley - 100m
Brian Robinson - 77m
Cheshire Cat - 105m

any advice appreciated.

thanks.

lochindaal

I did the Dragon Ride (7.5 hrs) and the Etape (8.5hrs) last year.

The Dragon ride was hard but didn't compare to the Etape. It was the first time I had cycled abroad and you can't mentally prepare for something like Ventoux.

The other thing that made it tough was the heat. You think you have your food and drink strategy all worked out but the heat changed all that for me.

One final thing worth considering is descents. You can look at the Etape profile and see a 15km descent and believe this will be a rest time. It is actually very hard. Descending for that length of time at 60-80km/hr requires a lot of concentration and the continual vibration on your fore arms begins to hurt when it's not something you're used to.

Saying all that it's an amazing day and I've signed up again!

shawman

Next years Etape will be much harder than last year. The Col du Tourmalet is harder than the Ventoux plus the Soulor and Marie Blanque will have softened you up before hand. The decent from Soulor is 21 km, there is a flattish bit in the middle but it is still hard work.

http://www.velopeloton.com/Cols/2010tou ... 182010.htm

de_sisti

Do you think next year's Etape route will be harder than the one for the Marmotte?

Anonymous

Before I start....I think the Ventoux's a good deal harder than the Tourmalet...just my opinion....

UK sportives vs Etape?

I reckon the Fred Whitton or the Dave Lloyd Mega/Ryedale Rumble/Cumbrain Killer etc would give the Etape a run for its money......very close....but very very different....

The UK climbs are much much steeper...and demand a incredible effort just to get over them.....but they are very short....but the toughest UK sportives are never ending shorter shraper efforts....

On the Etape...its more of a 'get into a comfortable gear' and prepare for a long haul....the Marie Blanq is steep for 4 kms towards the top...the climb up 'the back' of the Soulor is a huge long grind...and the Tourmalet is relentless....very, very tough....

I really dunno.....the toughest of the UK sportives could equal it I reckon....but the most important thing for a UK cyclist out there is the heat....if its a hot day....it'll be real bad!..

One of the biggest days Ive did on the continent was the Mortirolo followed by the Gavia...around 80 miles or so...verdict...nowhere near as tough as the FWC or the full DLMC...christ after a really tough UK sportive Im absolutely gone...for a few days!

My opinion....if you can do the FWC or the Ryedale Rumble etc...you will do the Etape...just watch the heat!

Alan Chaffee

I can't remember an Etape that's been harder than the Marmotte; 2010 certainly isn't. You can break it down like this:

Galibier (+Telegraphe) - harder than Tourmalet
Glandon harder than Soulor
Alpe d'Huez harder than Marie Blanque

(I know they are in different order!)

Mark Alexander

When I did the Marmotte last year, my first sportif, I used the Dragon Ride in Wales for a warm up.

The numbers of X miles and X ft of climbing are just numbers. It's the temp changes and conditions that you add to those miles and feet that kill you off.

Col du Glandon, Telegraphe, Galibier and Alpe D'Huez were my first overseas pedal strokes.

http://www.steephill.tv/2006/alpe-d-huez/

dombo6

I used the Dragon in 2008 to prepare for the etape and despite similar amount of climbing the etape took me an hour longer - 8' 15 vs 7' 15. It was even shorter than the Dragon at just about 100 miles. We climbed Tourmalet from the other side, ie from Ste Marie le Campan and it is relentless. Great experience though and a fantastic day out on the bike, even with the pants weather we had.

Will Young

Snaffledog - you could certainly do a European sportif based on what you rode this year. The Spud Riley for example was a very hard day as I remember, swap heat for cold and you're nearly there!

fudbeer

RICHYBOYcp wrote:

Before I start....I think the Ventoux's a good deal harder than the Tourmalet...just my opinion....

UK sportives vs Etape?

I reckon the Fred Whitton or the Dave Lloyd Mega/Ryedale Rumble/Cumbrain Killer etc would give the Etape a run for its money......very close....but very very different....

The UK climbs are much much steeper...and demand a incredible effort just to get over them.....but they are very short....but the toughest UK sportives are never ending shorter shraper efforts....

On the Etape...its more of a 'get into a comfortable gear' and prepare for a long haul....the Marie Blanq is steep for 4 kms towards the top...the climb up 'the back' of the Soulor is a huge long grind...and the Tourmalet is relentless....very, very tough....

I really dunno.....the toughest of the UK sportives could equal it I reckon....but the most important thing for a UK cyclist out there is the heat....if its a hot day....it'll be real bad!..

One of the biggest days Ive did on the continent was the Mortirolo followed by the Gavia...around 80 miles or so...verdict...nowhere near as tough as the FWC or the full DLMC...christ after a really tough UK sportive Im absolutely gone...for a few days!

My opinion....if you can do the FWC or the Ryedale Rumble etc...you will do the Etape...just watch the heat!

I think your point about the climbs in the uk being much steeper and harder to get over but shorter is spot on.

Take winatts pass part of the tour of the peaks it is a short climb but the time you are climbing at an incredibly steep incline of around 1 in 5 is what makes it such a killer,I think the Etape climbs while much longer are nowhere near this steep.

Garrigou

Agree it's all relative. Shorter, steeper climbs in the UK v longer, draggier ones in the Pyrenees & Alps etc.
If you do go for the Etape, don't be 'suckered' into thinking the Tourmalet is 'only' 18km on that western side though. Before the 'official' start of the climb, the preceding 15km of approach road into Luz Saint Sauveur climbs 300m and if there's a headwind blowing down the gorge which that road sits in, it's a bit of a b*gger.

Mark Alexander

Dombo6 wrote:

I used the Dragon in 2008 to prepare for the etape and despite similar amount of climbing the etape took me an hour longer - 8' 15 vs 7' 15. It was even shorter than the Dragon at just about 100 miles. We climbed Tourmalet from the other side, ie from Ste Marie le Campan and it is relentless. Great experience though and a fantastic day out on the bike, even with the pants weather we had.

Yes, it was the same day as the Etape and on Sunday, the talk across the hotel was not of Marmotte and the tough ride but of the reports of rain that you had and how we were all glad we hadn't been there.

Road Red

I did the Dragonride last year in just over 8 hrs, quite comfortable on the day. The Etape took well over an hour longer.

The main difference was the heat. As someone else already pointed out It played hell with my eating and drinking schedule and I suffered for it on Ventoux. My legs were ok but the energy levels were not where thay should have been. I reckon you can get plenty practice for the climbing. (Lots of plans about how to do that are available on this site). With the correct preparation and based on your sportives this year you won't have a problem on that front. But it's very hard to practice for the heat.

I am going again this year, hoping that the Pyrennees not be as hot as Provence. Great event though, in any conditions.

This is my training plan for the heat;
Turn heating in kitchen onto full.
Turn oven onto full and open oven door.
Move bike and turbo from the shed and place in front of oven door.
Put six teleophone directories under the front wheel.
Put on body warmer, 2 summer jerseys, 1 winter jersey, leg warmers, 3 woolly jumpers and woolly balaclava and pedal like bejaysus for 2 hours.

shawman

2010 Etape route is not as hard as Marmotte, but it is harder than any in UK. It is the length of the climbs + the heat that causes the trouble. I also think that many people are under estimating the difficulty of Col du Soulor. The tour have it at 22km at 5% but it is the last 12km which average 7.5% that will do the damage. I was talking to a group of 8 English cyclists last May who had ridden Vantoux and then traveled on to the Pyrenees, the first climb they did was up the Soulor from the north and all said it was much harder than Ventoux, don't agree myself but think it will catch a lot of people out. They did not get up Tourmalet because of snow.

How hard a climb feels is very subjective, for me the hardest climb in France is the Tourmalet from the west, harder than Ventoux and although not as long or as high as Galibier, much harder than it, maybe it is the psychological effect of seeing that big wall of rock with 5k to go.

Anyway OP, I think you will have no problem giving the sportives you have already done.

Mark Alexander

Good point, well made.

I suffered on the 11.5km of the Telegraphe more than th 17km of Galibier. I did Galibier only 20 mins or so after Telegraphe. 8)