L’Etape du Tour : Megève to Morzine
by Manola Brizon
On July 10th, we experienced an exceptional day of cycling from Megève to Morzine, surpassed ourselves, despite the heat and the difficulty of the route. We were allow to ride in the same conditions as the pros for a day (final stage of the Tour de France in the Alpes on Saturday 23rd July). We were completely immersed in the ambiance of the Tour de France, cheered on by the crowd who was splashing cold water on us to refresh us and we were surrounded by such a wonderful landscape!
#Our day in numbers:
- 24th edition of L’Etape du Tour
- 11, 471 participants of which 8 Expatriés riders and 3 other friends
- 62 nationalities
- 122 km route
- 3 mythical climbs for a total of 2,873 m of elevation gains:
- Col des Aravis – 1,487 m – category 2 climb – 7 km with an average gradient of 7%
- Col de la Colombière – 1,618 m – category 1 climb – 7 km with a gradient of 5.8%
- Col de Joux Plane – 1,691 m – hors catégorie climb – 6 km with a gradient of 8.5 %
- 75 motorbikes which ensured the participants’ safety
- 8 assistance Mavic’s vehicles
#First team’s reaction:
Vince: « Orga super, course top avec forte chaleur !! Joux plane, la forte cote pour les braves ;), Grande fierté à l’arrivée 😉 »
Guillaume: « Organisation : très bonne tant au niveau des sas, des ravitaillements que des consignes / Sensation de course : deux premiers cols relativement faciles, 4-5 Premiers km de la joux plane difficiles avec une forte chaleur, Grande Satisfaction à l’arrivée »
Mr President: « For me, I am happy to have come, even though I didn’t train properly I was lucky to have Brian and Ian (Ex-Expatriés) to help get me round. Found the course quite challenging (esp. Joux Plane) but the best part for me is always the people before and after – and of course merci á Manola for the organsiation impeccable »
Ian (Expatriés Original member): « Bonne ambiance de camaraderie la veille, et le jour même (départ, bénévoles et riverains). Course super bien organisée (sas, dépose-sac, ravitos, route, cadeaux). Énorme défi bien réussi par nous tous — bravos et brava »
Tom: « From my side: Superb day and a great atmosphere throughout the event. Certainly scorching weather making the climbs even more challenging, notably the last one: Joux Plane. Congratulations to all those who participated. We all certainly deserved that evening beer »
Julien: « Bonne ambiance, grosse chaleur, Joux Plane difficile… »
#The results:
[table id=69 /]
