l’Etape du Tour 2016
Comments
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Previous posts raise excellent points. These were some of my experiences in 2015 that I offer to 2016 participants, myself included.
1. The Étape is not a UK-style sportive, it is a full on race. The winner last year was a 23 (?) year old pro who had been suspended from the Cofidis squad because he suffered from asthma. A point to prove?
2. Don't dawdle along the route. Look at the scenery in your recce or on the way home.
3. Don't linger at the feed stations. Grab and go.
4. Delays on route. Be prepared to push to move forward. Time lost queuing to pass a crash caused problems in 2015.
5. Wear your lightest kit. Don't carry "just in case" bits and pieces though do study the weather forecast.
6. Stay as near as you can to the start the night before. Recce, or study in great detail, the parking arrangements and expect several thousand others to be heading for the same car park so have a back-up plan.
7. Try and ride with pals. Solo riders be prepared to surf from groups throughout (comments above duly noted).
8. Bike needs to be fully prepped. Ditto self mentally. No negative waves!
9. Expect it to be hot (my 500 read 42 degrees) and that you will sweat more than you have ever done. Even your arms sweat. Adjust your nutrition and drinking regime accordingly.
10. Acclimatise as much as you can. The more the better.
11. Registration. Check all your paperwork before leaving UK. Take photos of all the documents required on your mobile so that you can use these as a back up. Belt and braces approach here.
12. Registration. Get there early. Afternoon queues to La Toussire must have been frustrating.
13. Registration. Expect to be checking your ASO account repeatedly until your convocation appears on the site until just before you depart the UK.
14. Entry. Many have posted about this. I'm in the 12000s again for 2016. I stated 6 hrs 30 as my estimated time which I believe to be realistic. Plainly I needed to register as a retired pro from some obscure UK team, now capable of a 4hrs 50 time but that isn't the done thing for this Brit.
15. Elimination and Broom Waggon. Painful to recall all this but my principal learning point is NOT TO STOP unless they take your wheels off. I won't be stopping this year no matter what. Crashes and delays referred to earlier notwithstanding, clearance of the road up the Glandon was done by a team of over-zealous jobsworths for whom the road closure time was their "be-at-home-after-work" time. I stopped at the third insistence, wasted 4 hours to be transported to the finish, then still saw riders finishing in in a time that I could have walked! Sorry ASO you got that all wrong. The same jobsworth tactics on a group of 120 at the top of the Glandon backfired when the group forced their way through. Safety in numbers.
Hope something in this helps somebody.0 -
So what they are basically saying they need the Etape result from the account that you used to race the EDT 2015 and they will try and find a solution. If it's any help, try searching your emails for letapedutour@aso.fr, that's the address they used to send the "convocation" last time I entered (but I didn't enter for the 2015 edition) and you might be able to discover the missing information. Bonne chance!bernithebiker wrote:This is what they said;
Vous ne vous êtes pas inscrit avec le même compte que l'année dernière, c'est pour cette raison que nous n'avions pas votre historique pour l'attribution des dossards.0 -
JS14 wrote:
So what they are basically saying they need the Etape result from the account that you used to race the EDT 2015 and they will try and find a solution. If it's any help, try searching your emails for letapedutour@aso.fr, that's the address they used to send the "convocation" last time I entered (but I didn't enter for the 2015 edition) and you might be able to discover the missing information. Bonne chance!bernithebiker wrote:This is what they said;
Vous ne vous êtes pas inscrit avec le même compte que l'année dernière, c'est pour cette raison que nous n'avions pas votre historique pour l'attribution des dossards.
I appreciate the help, but I get the distinct impression it's too late now that the numbers have been allocated as if they gave me say 1001, then Joe Bloggs who had 1001, and gets 8055, might be a bit cheesed off!
I think it's just a case of finding a friendly face, showing him some paperwork proof, and trying to wheedle my way into a sub 3000 pen. I;m only small, don't take up much space!0 -
They don't seem to allocate all the numbers in a block. Someone has 2886 but then there is a gap which probably goes all the way to 2999 and then they start again at 3000.bernithebiker wrote:
I appreciate the help, but I get the distinct impression it's too late now that the numbers have been allocated as if they gave me say 1001, then Joe Bloggs who had 1001, and gets 8055, might be a bit cheesed off!
To amuse myself, I hunted for the highest number and came up with Sergio ZUICKER who'll be riding with 15949. Bearing in mind that the ASO site shows 14343 registered entries, there must be a few holes somewhere in the numbering.0 -
cc78 wrote:If anyone is still looking for accommodation (unlikely but you never know), our next door neighbour has just had a cancellation for their cosy 1-bedroom apartment. It can sleep up to 5 people. We're 15km from Megeve and the route comes right past our front door, on the first climb to the Col des Aravis. PM me for details if you're interested.
How easy will it be to get to the start from there bearing in mind it's on the route and in opposite direction to the race?
Any ideas on road closure times?0 -
JS14 wrote:
They don't seem to allocate all the numbers in a block. Someone has 2886 but then there is a gap which probably goes all the way to 2999 and then they start again at 3000.bernithebiker wrote:
I appreciate the help, but I get the distinct impression it's too late now that the numbers have been allocated as if they gave me say 1001, then Joe Bloggs who had 1001, and gets 8055, might be a bit cheesed off!
To amuse myself, I hunted for the highest number and came up with Sergio ZUICKER who'll be riding with 15949. Bearing in mind that the ASO site shows 14343 registered entries, there must be a few holes somewhere in the numbering.
I guess I'll be near Zuicker: I'm 14043, ffs.
I did the etape eight years ago and can't remember how it was timed, etc.
Do we have a chip on the bike, or a dibber or something? Or are we losers at the back all starting at the same time as the guys at the front, but get an extra hour to hang around while they set off on pristine roads and eat all the cake at the feed stations?0 -
The race number 'plate' that you attach to your handlebars has a machine readable chip inside it. Timing begins from when you go past the control gate on the start line so your overall time doesn't depend on which group you start in (but of course the last group to go risks getting slowed down by the sheer weight of cyclists ahead trying to go down the same road as you). The main disadvantage of starting in one of the last pens is that you have less time to finish the course and you need to go like the clappers right from the start to get some time margin ahead of the end-of-course car and the dreaded broom wagon.Peakraider wrote:Do we have a chip on the bike, or a dibber or something? Or are we losers at the back all starting at the same time as the guys at the front, but get an extra hour to hang around while they set off on pristine roads and eat all the cake at the feed stations?0 -
Peakraider wrote:JS14 wrote:
They don't seem to allocate all the numbers in a block. Someone has 2886 but then there is a gap which probably goes all the way to 2999 and then they start again at 3000.bernithebiker wrote:
I appreciate the help, but I get the distinct impression it's too late now that the numbers have been allocated as if they gave me say 1001, then Joe Bloggs who had 1001, and gets 8055, might be a bit cheesed off!
To amuse myself, I hunted for the highest number and came up with Sergio ZUICKER who'll be riding with 15949. Bearing in mind that the ASO site shows 14343 registered entries, there must be a few holes somewhere in the numbering.
I guess I'll be near Zuicker: I'm 14043, ffs.
I did the etape eight years ago and can't remember how it was timed, etc.
Do we have a chip on the bike, or a dibber or something? Or are we losers at the back all starting at the same time as the guys at the front, but get an extra hour to hang around while they set off on pristine roads and eat all the cake at the feed stations?
Look on the plus side - as you'll be starting about 2 hours after the front guys, you can spend that extra time in bed!0 -
pgmabley wrote:cc78 wrote:If anyone is still looking for accommodation (unlikely but you never know), our next door neighbour has just had a cancellation for their cosy 1-bedroom apartment. It can sleep up to 5 people. We're 15km from Megeve and the route comes right past our front door, on the first climb to the Col des Aravis. PM me for details if you're interested.
How easy will it be to get to the start from there bearing in mind it's on the route and in opposite direction to the race?
Any ideas on road closure times?
the road from Megeve to the Col des Aravis will close at 6.30am, ie half an hour before the first wave starts.0 -
The road book is up on the website. No mention of a route change and the time schedule is in there too. If you are right at the back you have 10 hours 47mins to complete the course. That works out at around 8.5mph, which barring any disasters should be fine.0
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ugo.santalucia wrote:Great course this year... bit envious... :-)
Yeah I thought the same, I've never been impressed by the previous routes but this years is a cracker, I've ridden pretty much the same route myself and loved every minute of itRule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
Ramaz still in doubt
http://collectifmieusserandevsommand.ov ... -mais.html0 -
torico wrote:Ramaz still in doubt
http://collectifmieusserandevsommand.ov ... -mais.html
having seen the state of Joux Plane last weekend, it might not be the only late change...0 -
For a guy who lives down the road from you he seems to spend a lot of time riding past my house in the Alps.bernithebiker wrote:(I know the French guy that won last year's Etape, semi-pro, lives down the road from me in Brittany).
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BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
Instagramme0 -
The col de Ramaz will NOT be in the Etape course due to the landslip on the far size. It will still be in the Tour. The Joux Plane will be still the same.0
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Bound4Glory wrote:The col de Ramaz will NOT be in the Etape course due to the landslip on the far size. It will still be in the Tour. The Joux Plane will be still the same.
Seems you're right, now I've read that article.
But there's nothing at all on the Aso Etape site. Looks like they'll be keeping quiet about it until the last possible moment, after all they don't want people to not come.
So does this mean we miss the biggest climb and 25km or so? Makes the ride quite tame if that's that case....0 -
Apparently, this is what the road looks like down the Joux Plane into Morzine;
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The mairie of Taninges has confirmed that the Etape will not use the Ramaz
http://taninges-com.blogspot.fr/2016/07 ... ateur.html
the ride will indeed be a lot easier if they don't replace it with something else0 -
the most recent Instagram from Joux Plane is from 4 days ago... looks like they have started filling in the hole...
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Wow, this is gonna be a nailbiter!0
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It would be nice if ASO made an official announcement sooner rather than later.
If the Ramaz is out are we likely to ride to Avoriaz after the Joux Plane instead?0 -
I have e-mailed ASO and this is the reply:
"In deed, there is a change on the route of l'Etape du Tour.
Due to risks of landslides on le Col de la Ramaz, and to ensure the security of participants, riders will not enter this Col.
You could find informations and the update of the race on the website of l'Etape du Tour."
I can't see anything on the Etape website though.0 -
On the Etape facebook feed, it mentions that they expect the Joux Plane to be ready in time....
...however someone posted the following shot yesterday, so could be touch and go? > https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater0 -
Revised timings showing no replacement climb for the Ramaz and route down to 122 kms: http://netstorage.lequipe.fr/ASO/egp/etapedutour/edt16-lr-itineraire-horaire-b.pdf
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stan1000 wrote:On the Etape facebook feed, it mentions that they expect the Joux Plane to be ready in time....
...however someone posted the following shot yesterday, so could be touch and go? > https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater
that's a lot better than it was... should be fine for next weekend I would think, barring any disasters...0 -
Dorset Boy wrote:Revised timings showing no replacement climb for the Ramaz and route down to 122 kms: http://netstorage.lequipe.fr/ASO/egp/etapedutour/edt16-lr-itineraire-horaire-b.pdf
disappointing for those taking part
still 3 great climbs, but...0 -
Probably only 2,700m of climbing now.0
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It's gonna be a scrum as people will now feel they can go for a decent time rather than just completing...0
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if you check out the Road Book from the Etape home page (http://www.letapedutour.com/us/) you will see that Ramaz has disappeared from the route and we are indeed left with a 122km route with a long false flat section from Scionzier all the way to the foot of the Joux Plane.
It seems they had to take the decision to axe Ramaz due to safety concerns but it's a bit disappointing in terms of the revised route. Not what I've been training for.0 -
Very disappointed by this. However I'm going to use this as an opportunity to do the last half of stage 19 and all of stage 18 on Friday. Doesn't matter if I knacker my legs as much. 122km and probably less than 3000m of climbing just isn't as formidable as 140+3800m climbing.0
