Luc Alphand sportive

3Pears

Hi All,
Have any members done the above event in Briancon ? If so I'd be really grateful for some info A rider from a London based coaching company mentioned it to me whilst on Eurotunnel train 8)

Is the route the same each year ?
Does it always use Col d'Izoard, Col du Lautaret and Galibier ?
How big is the field ?

Any other additional info would be fantastic, I've looked at the website but its unclear on a few things :oops:

Anticipated Thanx

Kléber

It starts uphill and you get a "free" jersey in return for your entry fee. It's well organised. But no Galibier, here is the route:

3Pears

Thank you Kleber, appreciated Pity I was told it did the Col d'Izoard then went up Col du Lautaret and then Galibier opposite way to Marmotte !

chieflordy

I rode it in 2008 and would whole heartedly recommend it. Easy to organise your trip as it starts and ends in the same place, Serre Chevallier is short ride up the valley from Briancon where we stayed.
I rode one of the shorter options on the day but I have noticed they do seem to vary the courses each year with the one constant being the Izoard. The year I rode the long course did include the Galibier as well but obviously they have taken that out since.
The numbers entering were not massive but big enough, maybe 1000 in total split over the 3 courses.
There were large number of Italians riding- it seemed like more than French, probably due to the proximity of Briancon to the border (just over the Montgenevre col).
It was straight forward to enter online via the Active Europe website, I think it came online to book in the spring time.

MarjMJ

3Pears
We have thought about doing this [well a bit of it anyway] as we love the area. We were lucky enough to be on hol there this summer when it was on, and so just watched folks coming in. Seemed to be very well organised and nice atmos at the finish.
Like chieflordy my understanding was that the route was varied.

We did do the col d'echelle as a taster from vachette over then back, and on a separate day did a section of the Izoard from just above Fontchristianne, which to our newbie ish legs to this stuff were pretty epic. We also had a tootle up the Galibier from the Col du Lauteret - was sublime. Almost had a come to Jesus moment at the top.


There is plenty of great priced accommodation along the whole Serre Che valley at that time of year too, and loads to do cycling, hiking and climbing. It is a special place.

Good luck with the Luc.

3Pears

Chieflordy and MarjMJ

Thanks for the extra info [/b]

chieflordy

it looks like the Galibier is back in for 2011 celebrating the 100th anniversary of its first use in the TDF
http://www.cyclo-lucalphand.com/accueil.html

3Pears

What with La Marmotte, Luc Alphand, TdF and probably L'Etape the Poor Galibier is in for a busy summer ha ha

I guess the Galibier may just bite on one of those occasions :P