Etape du Tour 2017

gavinbay

chrissmith1983 wrote:

Does anyone have any experience of parking at Etape? We are staying just outside the start town. (about 15km)
I would rather drive to the town than ride, mostly because the ride back after 180km won't be much fun.

I haven't noticed any info on parking on the website does anyone know the area? is it worth parking there the day before so my car is waiting at the end?

Where exactly are you staying and then I can give you best advise as to where to park up depending on what direction you are coming from.

Briancon is tiny and a couple of miles at most is all you'd have to cycle to / from - famous last words

bikeboff

Thinking about the details of the ride now - any thoughts on clothing for the day? I'm thinking of standard shorts and jersey, plus some arm warmers and a very light jacket that I can stuff into my jersey pocket - in case it is cold for the descent from the Col de Vars. Weather forecast looks pretty kind - not too hot.

PhilPub

bikeboff wrote:

Thinking about the details of the ride now - any thoughts on clothing for the day? I'm thinking of standard shorts and jersey, plus some arm warmers and a very light jacket that I can stuff into my jersey pocket - in case it is cold for the descent from the Col de Vars. Weather forecast looks pretty kind - not too hot.

Similar here, with the addition of winter gloves because my hands really suffer. I've purchased a large(r) saddle bag to fit everything in so that I can reserve pocket space for food. Part personal preference, part back-up strategy if feed stations are mobbed. Anyone else packing gels AND a jar of peanut butter?!

gavinbay

Guys forecast is looking good.

http://www.meteociel.fr/tendances/1900/ ... _alpes.htm

Currently forecast is hot and sunny, but not in the 30's but it will be at lower altitudes and forecast is air temp and not in the direct sunlight.

The long drag up from the end of the lake to Barcelonette and Jausiers will be not in the heat of the afternoon and hopefully the prevalent thermal wind plays ball again with a tail wind and also up the gorge from Guillestre.

On a forecast like that I would not be packing a jacket etc and not worry about long fingered gloves etc

My game plan is to ride with two ltr bottles and then down to one after I use the first up as the first 60km is nigh on downhill all the way and the extra weight will not be an issue even up the first mini climb, then again it's downhill all the way to the end of the lake.

Right old rumpus going on evidently with the locals who are riding the Etape but are in the late pens about the pressure of the cut off - yes it's tight but it's downhill nearly all the way and in a group you should easily be able to manage an average speed of 30km+

djone101

Drove down to Le Grand Bornand yesterday - rain pretty much all the way, some of it torrential. Nicer this morning so did a little warm up ride up the Col de la Colmobiere - I did wear a light jacket on the descent because I was pretty sweaty and didn't fancy getting cold. If the temps at the weekend are much like now I'd probably do the same or maybe try a light gilet if I can find one in a shop somewhere. I don't think arm warmers or long gloves are needed (not for me anyway)

chrissmith1983

GavinBay wrote:

chrissmith1983 wrote:

Does anyone have any experience of parking at Etape? We are staying just outside the start town. (about 15km)
I would rather drive to the town than ride, mostly because the ride back after 180km won't be much fun.

I haven't noticed any info on parking on the website does anyone know the area? is it worth parking there the day before so my car is waiting at the end?

Where exactly are you staying and then I can give you best advise as to where to park up depending on what direction you are coming from.

Briancon is tiny and a couple of miles at most is all you'd have to cycle to / from - famous last words

Hi Gavin, I am staying to the south of briancon in a place called Les Vigneaux. I would have to drive up the N94 but I noticed it's closed from 6am. My start time is 8.30. Any help would be great

Wrath Rob

Hi all, good luck to everyone taking part this weekend, hopefully your training went well and you're now nicely in your taper. I'm down to start in the 7:42.30 group, anyone else on here in the same wave?

I'm also hoping to do the Col Lautaret and then onto the south side of the Galibier on Friday as a warm up. Any other recommendations while I'm in the area? Maybe something short for Thursday afternoon once we've arrived and the bikes rebuilt?

djone101

I was planning on riding up to Izoard from Briancon to get an idea of the descent down after the event.

dish_dash

chrissmith1983 wrote:

GavinBay wrote:

chrissmith1983 wrote:

Does anyone have any experience of parking at Etape? We are staying just outside the start town. (about 15km)
I would rather drive to the town than ride, mostly because the ride back after 180km won't be much fun.

I haven't noticed any info on parking on the website does anyone know the area? is it worth parking there the day before so my car is waiting at the end?

Where exactly are you staying and then I can give you best advise as to where to park up depending on what direction you are coming from.

Briancon is tiny and a couple of miles at most is all you'd have to cycle to / from - famous last words

Hi Gavin, I am staying to the south of briancon in a place called Les Vigneaux. I would have to drive up the N94 but I noticed it's closed from 6am. My start time is 8.30. Any help would be great

Obviously each Etape is different. But when we did it, we just drove as close to the start and then parked on the pavement. It's what everyone else seemed to be doing as well. Ended up about a 2 min cycle to the start line...

gavinbay

If coming from South of Briancon there is a back road you can take that runs parallel to the N94 and drops you in above where the start is so you can park there.

Take a look at the Strava route https://www.strava.com/activities/1036065946 and zoom in and you can see how the road from Les Vigneaux traverses along the valley to Prelles - you then go back on yourself up the N94 and take another road Route de Espagnols to Villar St Pancrace

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/1541271 ... =mrb&lp=18

Just read in the last few minutes that some local cyclists, including Justin Menhenett (a local Southampton rider, whose name I often see on Strava leaderboards), lost the lottery and didn't have their bike join them on their flight over to this sportive.

Hopefully they have been re-united by now, good luck to all taking part!

chrissmith1983

First off, well done to all who completed the course yesterday. That was a tough corse in very hot conditions.

I feel like I have to have a massive moan about the event though. I was sadly picked up by the broom wagon on what I consider to be very unfair grounds.

So I moved back from gate 12 to 14 to ride with my brother, we went out very fast to the first stop only to be told when we got there that he cut off was just 2 minutes behind us so we had to skip getting water (which is very dangerous in that weather) and push on, but from that point it felt like a race knowing it was behind you which was very stressful. Anyway finally made it to the bottom of izoard only to be told by the grumpy Garda with guns that we had missed the cut off by 10 minutes and had to board the bus. Which from waiting in line to getting the bikes back in briancon took 3 hours! Time in which I could easily have finished the route in.

It's really annoyed me because I felt I I could do it but had the chance taken away from me by bad organisation. I got the impression that they don't want you to finish if you start in the back pens and hearing stories of guys having a leisurely 9 plus hours to complete the corse because they started in the middle just made me angry

Feel cheated and that all the months of training were for nothing

craigus89

Why couldn't you just finish the course?

chrissmith1983

Craigus89 wrote:

Why couldn't you just finish the course?

The guards wouldn't let me and had blocked the road off

gavinbay

chrissmith1983 wrote:

First off, well done to all who completed the course yesterday. That was a tough corse in very hot conditions.

I feel like I have to have a massive moan about the event though. I was sadly picked up by the broom wagon on what I consider to be very unfair grounds.


Feel cheated and that all the months of training were for nothing

Really feel for you, that was always the issue if in the later pens having to do the first 50km fast to get well ahead of the cut off so you could have time at the feed stations.

And I did know that the cut off below the Izoard would be tough for many having go that far.

I had friends in the last pen and they made it.

I was off at 10,250 and rode well though knew I was in for problems when I cramped on the descent down from Vars!!

My real problems started 7km 600m from the top of the Izoard when I went into a series of severe cramps and spasms and could not move and whilst lying down in the ditch both of my mates who were in the last pen rode mast me!

What should have taken me an hour took 2.5hrs but I was able to cycle the last couple of km from the Casse Desertewhilst all around me seemed people were walking.

I think they are so "brutal" with that cut off is down to the fact that they can't allow the many cyclists who think that thet can do it only to possibly have a series of medical casulaties from people pushing it beyond their capabilities.

I have never seen so many people crashed on the side of the road and many would have great difficulty getting to the top.

djone101

I bailed out at 100km at Barcelonette - Started just before 9am (15610) in pen 15. When I arrived at the "feed zone" which looked more like a war zone they were announcing it was closing in ten minutes (after having not stopped at the first one to try to keep up). Having put in four hours at this point with the temperature up to 30deg and no prospect of any support I thought it was the sensible option. Broom wagon got back to Briancon at 5pm.

My personal take on the event is that it confirmed to me that I'm not a fan of riding to a schedule. I had a great week in the Alps before the ride. I did the Col de La Colombiere, Col des Aravis and Col d'Izoard as acclimatisation and enjoyed these much more than the Etape. Riding where you want, when you want in those surroundings is amazing. It's a great event for the competitive cyclist - I've just found out I'm not one of those.

shoulder_of_orion

I was in Pen 13, started at 8.37.

I had to do the first 100KM to Barcelonette pretty fast and I had a big mechanical issue which cost me 30mins at the first stop.

I had a good ride but I think I went a bit too hard up the lower part of Col de Vars and nearly cramped 3km from the top. Luckily stopped when an old couple with an RV offered me water and I just took 10mins to recalibrate and after that I was fine and I simply paced myself up Izoard having made sure I took on loads of fluids/electrolytes at the stops.

The feed zones were a bit like war zones and although I have never done the etape I have been on rides in the UK that have run out of supplies so I made sure I had loads on me like 10-15 gels, 2-3 protein bars, some drinks tabs and some real food so I skipped some of the feedstops and used some of the fountains in towns to refill water. My stops weren't always at the feed zones.

Like GavinBay says there were a lot of people struggling badly / walking or just cowering in the shade on the final climb. There has to be a cut off at some point as the roads are closed and they need to open them again but I do agree it is a bit stressful if you're in a later pen and it seems a bit unfair. Having said that there were a lot of people not physically or mentally prepared properly.

I finished it in 9 hours but it certainly didn't feel leisurely!

PhilPub

Sorry to hear about the sweeping up at the back. Even from pen 7 the refreshment stops seemed a little chaotic so I can only imagine that getting worse, especially as it got warmer.

As it is I had a great ride, getting in some good groups for a swift opening 100km in 2:53, where I had my first of two stops off the bike. Only eight minutes altogether, and the only fueling issue I had was eating portions of baguette with peanut butter and jam on the move. A bit chewy! Anyway, felt great on Col de Vars, and was going well most of the way up Izoard, except my left foot was firstly numb and then painful for a good 5km to the top. Some slightly asymmetrical pedaling but I kept it going, and kept overtaking people. I was only overtaken by one rider on Vars and no one on Izoard. Overall time 6:30 (moving time 6:22) for 550th overall (~11,000 finishers), and particularly pleased to rank 171st in the King of the Mountains classification.

Fantastic trip all round, with warm-up/cool-down rides over a long weekend taking in Alpe d'Huez, Croix de Fer/Glandon, Les Lacets de Montvernier, Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier. Now tired but happy!

ugo.santalucia

Pretty poor organisation. It's an open event and it should be more inclusive. I don't see how someone averaging 25 km/h should be prevented from finishing the ride. It's very arrogant to think that if you can't go at 40 km/h then you will get a heart attack up a mountain.

I had a similar experience years ago in a Granfondo in Italy... basically I had to stop for a minute, so I lost the fast train and my average speed dropped from 38 to 27 km/h... as a result I found the long route through the col closed and I was rerouted onto the short flatter course.

Belgians seem to be able to cope with large numbers in their events and I have never heard of anyone prevented to finish the Tour of Flanders

paul2718

Ugo, they publish the itinerary for the last riders, so you had to get to 100k (before any mountains) in 4h21, to the top of the Vars at 131k in 6h38, base of Izoard at 165k in 8h50 and to the finish at 181k in 10h46. The tightest section was probably the first 30 miles which you needed to cover in 1h30, but in practice what with being mostly downhill on good surfaces and closed roads this was very easy.

IMO if you were struggling with the broom wagon at 100k (averaging 23kmh) then you were probably going to struggle to complete. The organisers stated that they would apply a virtual broom wagon to earlier starters to reduce the advantage. I don't know if they did this.

By it's very nature this event is tough, and they have to draw a line under it somewhere, if you lost out this time then go back with the benefit of experience and try again.

Paul

Wrath Rob

I started in pen 6 so had no issues with the wagon. Mates started in 10 and 12 and were concerned but no issues in spite of taking over 10 hours too. The heat coupled with a route back loaded with climbing was always going to be tough if your fitness wasn't great and you struggle in the heat.

For the €100 event fee though I wasn't particularly impressed with the value for money. Yes, I get that this is an ASO event shortly before the Tour and that carries a lot of cachet. But last year I rode the Maratona for an event entry fee €35, got a free Castelli jersey and gillet and despite being Italian, the organisation was generally less chaotic and of course, the food was better . And the Giro had already done most of the Maratona course in May.

I'm very glad I did it, but I think next year I'll be doing something else rather than the Etape.