Toughest sportive?

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Comments

  • mattpage
    mattpage Posts: 122
    It is new (first edition this Saturday) but The Monster has the stats to beat most. Peak Epic is the only other event that is run as a sportive that comes close.

    Stats are: 4200m, 192km (119m, 14000ft).
    Genuine stats, not embellished as many are. FWC has almost 1000m less climbing.

    It is purposely small, different and a great route with amazing scenery.
    For me it is the climbing that makes a route tough, not the distance. The Dragon Devil was just long, it wasn't that hilly. Anyone could come up with a long route and claim to be the toughest.

    I guess we will see what people think after the weekend :)
    Twitter: @mattpage24.
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Escher303 wrote:
    I do fancy doing an LBL, PR or Flanders sportive one day, but the bigness of each event does put me off. Whereas that probably is the big attraction for others.
    .

    The RVV is massive, but there is a PR ran every other year by the Roubaix Velo club, which is basically what we would call an Audax, but it's fully signed and worth every penny.... not huge, probably 3,000 people, but no cocxs on Zipp wheels and full Sky kit and nonsense like that but very spread out... we did it last June... highly recommended if you enjoy physical pain... :wink:

    The guy on the shopping bike would then pass me on the Carrefour de l'Arbre, which was very annoying indeed

    ROubaix1_zps6a72ab2c.jpg

    Recommending miles of Pave isn't doing your argument any favours! Give me hills over pave any time! Unless it's hills with pave which I like (fortunately, no shortage of those in W Yorks).
    mattpage wrote:
    It is new (first edition this Saturday) but The Monster has the stats to beat most. Peak Epic is the only other event that is run as a sportive that comes close.

    Stats are: 4200m, 192km (119m, 14000ft).
    Genuine stats, not embellished as many are. FWC has almost 1000m less climbing.

    Who cares what the stats are if it doesn't even have a location! :wink:
    Faster than a tent.......
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    Rolf F wrote:

    Recommending miles of Pave isn't doing your argument any favours! Give me hills over pave any time! Unless it's hills with pave which I like (fortunately, no shortage of those in W Yorks).

    The first half of Paris-Roubaix, the one not televised, is actually not that flat and all the pave' secteurs are up and down, I even recall a pretty steep one and some scary descents... it's only from Arenberg onwards that it becomes pan flat
    left the forum March 2023
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,120
    Right

    I am now genuinely terrified and may never get on my bike again :lol:
    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,095
    The Bordeaux Paris is quite tough.
    BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    Interesting mention of the Dragon Ride earlier in the thread as I was going to suggest the ridiculous length version would be it. Looking at the route though it looks like they have made it a lot flatter over the last 2 years, I'm sure it was 13,000ft gain over 132 miles in 2012 (my memory may be defective though...).

    I thought the extra long route with that level of climbing was just getting silly.

    OP - Not a specific route or sportive but definitely a silly hard challenge http://www.everesting.cc/
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,941
    When in Nauders this summer I came across this http://www.raceacrossthealps.at/index,lang__en.html

    The site isn't great, but it's something like 400km long and you go over the Reschenpass, Stelvio, Gavia, Aprica, Mortirolo, Aprica, Bernina, Albula, Fluela, Fuorn, Umbrail, Reschenpass.

    Quite a lot of climbing there. Like Ugo though, the idea of spending that long on a bike crawling over mountains isn't really my idea of fun (and I love climbing).

    Something like the Maratona is better imo. Still a decent challenge, but not so hard that you can't do the route at a decent tempo, and the event itself is fantastic.
  • DavidJB
    DavidJB Posts: 2,019
    I really start getting bored and miserable over 100 miles on the bike. I don't stop though and 5+ hours of continuous riding gets a bit soul sapping. Oh yeah ... almost time to start those 100 mile winter base rides :? :x
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    The Snow Roads must be one of the top 5. 300km (186 miles) and 4800m (15,750 ft). Two ski station summits and some of the best scenerey in the UK.

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