Haute Route Alps 2014 - what to expect

It is with great pleasure that twowheeltours will again be running our Fully Catered Tour to the Haute Route Alps. 

twowheeltours is the only Tour Operator that has been to every Haute Route since it began back in 2011 - we have participated in all four events ... something that only seven people can claim.

  

What is install for the HR Alps ... one of the three 'Highest and Toughest Cyclosportives in the World'?

* 90% of which is new compared to 2013 * It will include many of the Alpine ‘Giants’ * It will follow a ‘West Line’ compared to the traditional ‘East Line’ courses in previous years * Alpe d’Huez  * Mont Ventoux - for the first time The twowheeltours 11 day fully catered tour will take place from Friday 22 August thru Monday 1 September 2014. The actual Haute Route Alps cyclo-sporif will take place between 24th to 30th August 2014. The race between the new Haute Route Dolomites-Swiss Alps and the Haute Route Pyrenees  This 4th edition will see the 500 amateur riders tackle over 900kms of mountain terrain, climbing a total of 21,000m across 19 mythical cols and ascents including four mountain top finishes.  The 7 fully timed stages will revisit many ‘Haute Route classics’ including Colombière, Cormet de Roselend, Courchevel, Madeleine, Glandon and Alpe d’Huez. The second main highlight of the 2014 course will be the double ascent of Alpe d’Huez as the arrival of the Marathon Stage on day 3 and the summit of the Individual Time Trial on day 4. The 2014 route offers seven timed stages in the following formats – 5 ‘classic’ stages, a ‘marathon’ stage (137km and 4,600m of vertical ascent) and the Alpe d’Huez Individual Time Trial. Haute Route Alps 2014 Stage by Stage: Event Village, Saturday 23rd August: Geneva Stage 1, Sunday 24th August: Geneva – Megève (130km, 3100m D+) Stage 2, Monday 25th August: Megève – Courchevel (130km, 3900m D+) Stage 3, Tuesday 26th August: Courchevel – Alpe d’Huez (137km, 4600m D+) Stage 4, Wednesday 27th August: Bourg d’Oisans – Alpe d’Huez ITT (15km, 1100m D+) Stage 5, Thursday 28th August: Bourg d’Oisans – Digne-les-Bains (188km, 2900m D+) Stage 6, Friday 29th August: Digne-les-Bains – Mont Ventoux (159km, 2800m D+) Stage 7, Saturday 30th August: Digne-les-Bains – Nice (153km, 2350m D+) Haute Route Alps 2014 Cols & Ascents: Stage 1: Colombière 1613m / Croix Fry 1467m / Aravis 1486m Stage 2: Saisies 1657m / Cormet de Roselend 1967m / Courchevel 1850m Stage 3: Madeleine 1993m / Glandon 1924m / Alpe d’Huez 1860m Stage 4: Alpe d’Huez 1860m Stage 5: Ornon 1371m / Parquetout 1398m / Festre 1441m Stage 6: Notre Dame Abeilles 1000m / Mont Ventoux 1912m Stage 7: Corobin 1211m / St Barnabé 1365m / Bleine 1439m / Vence 962m Haute Route Alps 2014 in numbers: Total distance: 911km Cols & Ascents: 19 Total Ascent: 21,000m Total Descent: 16,700m 5 Classic stages + 1 Marathon Stage + 1 Individual Time Trial Highest col: Madeleine 1,993m Marathon stage (stage 3): 137km, 3 cols and ascents, 4,600m of climbing For More Information on our Fully Catered Tour - please visit: http://twowheeltours.com.au/haute-route/haute-route-alps-2014.html What is the twowheeltours difference when deciding on which Tour Operator to go with?  Where will we be staying during the Haute Route Alps?   For videos from our Haute Route 2013 tours please click Haute Route Pyrenees 2013 Haute Route Alps 2013

Haute Route Pyrenees with twowheeltours

The 2014 Haute Route Pyrenees unveiled twowheeltours is excited to continue our relationship as an Official Tour Operator for the Haute Route Pyrenees. We will be at all three cyclo-sportives in 2014 - Dolomites, Alps and Pyrenees. The new route for 2014 has been revealed with more than 80% of the course introducing new terrain and climbs to the riders compared to 2013. The Departure and Arrival cities for 2014 remain the same as the iconic city of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) will, once again, welcome the 500 amateur riders as the starting point of the 2014 Haute Route Pyrenees, finishing in the beautiful resort of Anglet (Basque Coast, France) along the Atlantic Ocean. The Haute Route Pyrenees will take place from Monday 1st to Sunday 7th September 2014, combining 790km cycling distance and 19,500 meters of vertical ascent, crossing 21 challenging Pyrenean cols and ascents between Spain and France. The route rediscovers the legendary ascents of Tourmalet, Peyresourde, Soulor and Aubisque and introduces new legends, such as, Port de Pailhères, Ax-3-Domaines, Hourquette d’Ancizan and Marie-Blanque. twowheeltours will again offer our high level fully catered packages. There is an11 day package where riders come in to the Barcelona area two days prior to the start and have two days to relax after the race in 5 star luxury in the beautiful Biarritz. We also offer an 8 day package, riders come into the the Barcelona area the day before the race begins and are apart of our fully catered tour during the race. For more information on our package - click here. Between the sea and the ocean, the first and last stage will cross Spanish terrain whilst the other five stages will roll across France. Nine different venues will welcome the Haute Route Pyrenees peloton including five new venue partners for this edition: Ripoll, Font Romeu, Ax-les-Thermes, Luz-St-Sauveur and St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The 2014 route offers seven different timed stages in the following formats - 5 ‘classic’ stages (averaging 120km with 3 main climbs), a ‘marathon’ stage (148km with 4 cols and 3,900m vertical ascent) and an individual time trial (Col du Tourmalet, from Luz-St-Sauveur). Haute Route Pyrenees 2014 Stage by Stage: • Event Village Sunday 31st August: Barcelona (Spain) • Stage 1 Monday 1st September: Ripoll to Font Romeu (93km, 2500m D+) • Stage 2 Tuesday 2nd September: Font Romeu to Ax-3-Domaines (120km, 3000m D+) • Stage 3 Wednesday 3rd September: Ax-les-Thermes to Bagnères-de-Luchon (160 km, 2700m D+) • Stage 4 Thursday 4th September: Bagnères-de-Luchon to Argelès-Gazost (120km, 3800m D+) • Stage 5 Friday 5th September: Individual Time Trial – Col du Tourmalet (18.5km, 1500m D+) • Stage 6 Saturday 6th September: Argelès-Gazost to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port (148km, 3900m D+) • Stage 7 Sunday 7th September: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Anglet Basque Coast (124km, 2000m D+) Haute Route Pyrenees 2014 Cols & Ascents: • Stage 1: Merolla 1103m / Creueta 1933m / Font Romeu 1800m • Stage 2: Moulis 1099m / Garabeil 1262m / Port de Pailhères 2001m / Ax-3-Domaines 1380m • Stage 3: Port 1250m / Portet d’Aspet 1069m / Menté 1349m • Stage 4: Peyresourde 1569m / Hourquette d’Ancizan 1564m / Tourmalet 2117m • Stage 5: Tourmalet 2117m • Stage 6: Soulor 1474m / Aubisque 1709m / Marie-Blanque 1035m / Ahusquy 1070m • Stage 7: Ispeguy 672m / Otxondo 570m / Ibardin 317m Haute Route Pyrenees 2014 in numbers: Total distance: 790km Cols & Ascents: 21 Total Ascent: 19,500m Total Descent: 17,700m 5 Classic stages + 1 Marathon stage + 1 Individual Time Trial Highest col: Tourmalet 2117m Marathon stage (stage 6): 148km, 4 cols, 3900m of climbing

Haute Route Honour Roll

A Select Group

It is nice to be part of a special group - especially when it is part of the Haute Route - who would have thought doing four Haute Routes would have been possible ... well I'm very happy to say that I'm one of the riders who has taken part in all of the HR's since 2011. 

Here is the press release from HR:  

A special badge of honour to celebrate the most dedicated Haute Routers Now in its third year, the Haute Route already has a dedicated following, with 219 riders taking part in two or more events since the first Alps edition in 2011. Seven of those riders deserve a special mention as they have all taken part in every Haute Route to date Will Levy, Nicolas Raybaud, Christian Haettich, Jean-Paul Schaeffer, Richard Chapman, Dane Christensen, and Mark Turner have all participated in three Haute Route Alps and this year’s Haute Route Pyrenees.

Haute Route Alps 2011 - feels just like yesterday

Haute Route Pyrenees 2013 - most of team twowheeltours 

For more info on our Fully Catered Tours for the Haute Route Dolomites, Alps and Pyrenees head to www.twowheeltours.com.au

twowheeltours and the Haute Route share an exciting three year history and the future looks great for more challenges in 2014 with not two, but three cyclo-sportifs. The race organisers OC Sport, have added a 3rd race for 2014 – Haute Route Dolomites.

The French Alps have been the stable since the first edition in 2011 with an 800+ km timed race from Geneva to Nice. This year, the Haute Route Pyrenees - Barcelona to Biarritz edition was added.

These Haute Route races are billed as the 'highest and toughest cyclo-sportives in the world' and 2014 will test even the most committed road bike rider. twowheeltours will be offering packages, including race entry, for each of these three races and for the serious riders, a discounted package covering all whole three.

Why the Haute Route - after competing in the first Haute Route, I saw the advantages of creating a special eleven day package with luxury accommodation before and after each event. After all, riding for seven straight days over the famous Tour de France stages in the French Alps is not something you attempt without training, commitment and a love of riding.

What better way than to have two days of pre event luxury with the time to 'acclimatise' and get two moderate training rides under your belt plus some needed relaxation after a long journey to the start city. The same thoughts applied at the end of the race, two days in absolute luxury to re-live the highlights with our other riders whilst eating great food and relaxing in five star comfort.

As an official Tour Operator, appointed by the organisers of the Haute Route races, it is exciting to continuing our association. We have put together both eleven day and an eight day packages for the 2014 Haute Route events.  Click here for details.

We at twowheeltours pride ourselves on providing the best experience for our clients and in addition to riding each HR stage spending time with each rider on our tour, my team provides a personalised service to ensure you get to the start each day in the best possible form to ensure success in each stage.

At the end of each stage, we have our staff there to welcome you in and provide you with your day bag, cold drink, some chocolate and chips, a "well done" and information about where you accommodation is and what time is dinner.

Here are some comments from our clients who attended the 2012 and 2013 twowheeltours events:

--- 

It was a great trip and thanks again for everything you did to make things run so smoothly ... The organisation was excellent and everything ran very smoothly ... the trip itself was excellent and I wouldn't do the HR with anyone else.  Joseph (August 2013) - Haute Route Alps 2013

--- 

The trip was beyond my expectation. I'm pretty sure my boys [Shoko was the Team Tauge Team Manager] were satisfied perfectly, they became relaxed and made friends with other tour members...even though there were some language communication problems. When riders saw Joe at the goal or saw Will in the peloton, they really got encouraged and relieved. Thank you for your hospitality, we really appreciate everything you've done for us. Y. Shoko (August 2013) - Haute Route Alps 2013  

---

Hello Will - Thank you so much for everything on the tour. It made it a zillion times easier for me. I have low tolerance for things going wrong when I'm tired and hungry and I just know that would have happened without you and Laurie to organise me. I'm so impressed that you can ride all day and then sort us out in the non-riding times. You are completely unflappable! I really enjoyed it.

I don't think I would have finished the HR without being looked after. I would have struggled with messy transfers and disorganisation on top of riding. Thanks you and Laurie for all your care, support and organisation. It really showed. Eleri (September 2013) - Haute Route Pyrenees 2013  Haute Route Pyrenees Blog 2013 

---

Thoroughly enjoyed the trip from a riding perspective and ditto from a non-riding viewpoint. We believe the logistics were handled very efficiently and I appreciated the separate transfers between stages that TWT had organised. The support staff were also very good in catering to our needs - especially Gorka. Even the smallest request was attended to - there is no way that I would consider doing the Haute Route without the level of support provided by TWT. We are happy to endorse the HR TWT trips and gladly act as referees for any other interested parties. We both want to do it again!!!!! Detlef -Rider- & Lisa -Non Rider- (September 2013) - Haute Route Pyrenees 2013 

---

The service and dedication provided is excellent. I am very satisfied with the service. It is an excellent way of entering the Haute Route. Grant (September 2013) - Haute Route Pyrenees 2013 - This was Grant's second Haute Route with twowheeltours

Are you a RIDE Magazine fan, looking to watch the Stelvio stage of the Giro? Are you wanting to spend a weekend away and get some riding in? Then this is the weekend for you!

It's time to get away for the weekend  Mantra Kooindah Waters Golf  and Spa Resort Saturday 26 May Sunday 27 May 2012 Wyong - Sydney's Central Coast Limited Spots twowheeltours and RIDE Magazine are heading away for the weekend You're invited to participate in an event which is being run by twowheeltours and RIDE Cycling Review Magazine. This is a great opportunity to get away, watch the Stelvio stage of the Giro, play with some cycle related products, have a few drinks and dinner and head out on a ride on the Sunday morning.  Saturday Meet at Kooindah Waters Saturday afternoon Drinks - meet and greet with bike industry reps  Dinner at Kooindah Waters Watch Stage 20 of the Giro including Passo dello Stelvio Sunday Breakfast at Kooindah Waters Depart for for ride - two options 70 or 90k loops Lunch at Kooindah Waters Weekend concludes Sunday afternoon Why Kooindah Waters It is just 90mins north of Sydney. A luxurious resort environment with pool, spa and sauna, great restaurant, bar and a dedicated space to watch Stage 20 of the Giro. There is also fantastic road riding routes right from the front door.  What cycle industry companies will be attending? One cycle related manufacture in cycling computers, components, bikes, tyres, wheels and nutrition.  What is the cost of the weekend?  Costs vary depending on your accommodation booked. There are many different room options available, from studios to two and three bedroom villas.  See twowheeltours for more details twowheeltours the Australian tour operators of the Haute Route

Next GUG MTB Weekend - Nov 26-27 2011

News just to hand - Bec Henderson, Australian U23 National Cross Country Champion will be assisting on the first ride at our November 26/27 Gear Up Girl MTB weekend. 

This will be a great chance to learn off one of Australia's most talented riders. Bec just got back from 2+ months of competing OS and she'll be on hand to help share some knowledge and show you some skills to help your riding abilities ... sorry men, it is for ladies only! 

For more information click here and to book a spot on the trip click here 

28 August 2011 Summer Entry #29 Hello Haute Route Day Seven and NICE

Next and last stop NICE

La Haute Route 2011 - “Done”

Saint Etienne-de-Tinee > Carros > Nice

Weather - Cold + Hot - 10-31C

Stats

Time 3:09:02

Distance 103.56km

Elevation 1,092m

Avg Speed 32.9km/h

Max HR 164 bpm

Avg HR 126 bpm

Winning Time 1:52:07

Results can be found here ... now I know how I’m doing! Final results for the Haute Route 2011, for Solo Men 46th, can be found here - 76th overall - happy with that. 

The official review of the Haute Route Stage 7 is below.  Also, to see video footage from each days stage at the Haute Route check here, there is some great footage. 

Food - The food at the Haute Route Closing Ceremony/Cocktail Party at the top of the Jardins du Château in Nice. Amazing food, plenty of drinks, beautiful view, great company and lots of desserts. To spend a glorious summer evening in Nice and to reminisce about the week of riding that just passed was truly the icing on the cake.  

Weather - freezing in the morning, lovely in the afternoon. I felt sorry for Francois Lemaut who weighs in at 52kg, interview day two. While waiting to depart, from Saint Etienne-de-Tinee, the poor guy was visibly shaking. My Garmin says 10C but it felt colder than that, especially when rolling through the valley, along the river plus the windchill, before the start of the climb. Once at the climb the temperature changed and before you knew it, vests were off and zippers were down. Our last chance to put it to the pedals. This was no last day of the TdF with champagne out on course, that would have to wait till lunch and then at the Cocktail Party.  

Mode of Transport - bikes bikes bikes!

Conversation - not that there were no interesting conversations on the last day but I do have to pass on two stories/situations that occurred on Day 6 and 7 with Paul Larsen. The first was while riding on Stage 6. I was slightly ahead of Paul on the climb of Cime de la Bonette. I called out to him while rounding one of the many bends “come-on Paul”. Next thing I knew, he was level pegged for a second, says “hello”, then flies past me. Flash forward to our interview at dinner that night in Auron. During our conversation he mentioned that “he uses me as a bit of a guide as to how he is doing”. We had been rather equal on the stages thus far and he says that “he can’t miss me riding up a hill as I’m one of the only ones in green kit”. Then some of his mates came past and mentioned something along the lines of, “you know Paul is the second placed Australian and you’re the first, he is coming after you tomorrow.” Little did I know but Paul, competing in a team situation, was a measly one minute behind me in the Overall Scratch standings. How could this statement not weigh on me!? Deep down we are all competitive and although I laughed it off I thought I have to give tomorrow my all! I only woke up once during the night in a cold sweat thinking about my riding strategy for Stage 7 ... how do professionals do it, did Cadel Evans even sleep the night before the TT at the TdF in 2011!? 

To start Stage 7 we had a 32k secured convoy before the official timing start. Paul was in the first secured convoy and I was in the second, he was in sight. Once the flag was dropped and the hill climb started it was time to ride. I’ll cut to the chase, I did ride with an entirely different group going up Col Saint Martin (1500m), a faster one than normal. I didn’t stop for long at the refreshment area at the top of the mountain and I did pedal my little legs off down the hill. NOTE - Paul is trying to break the World Speed Record in Sailing - read - he likes a bit of speed and descends like a bat-out-of-hell! I was thankful that a group gathered in the valley and we could work together through the flats, Paul wasn’t in that bunch. At the finish I ran into Paul’s girlfriend and mentioned that “I was sorry that I didn’t know where Paul was” and also regaled her with the story of my 4am wake up. I met Paul soon after, had a laugh and chatted about another fantastic day of the bike, for both of us.  

Animal - the pigs that provided the ham and salami at the finish line of each day, good to replenish our lost salt stores. 

What else of note - Cheers Paul Larsen, the other 298 riders and the 80+ staff that made the Haute Route 2011 such a success. I’ll forever have such great memories and look forward to heading back in 2012, this time as a supporter for Australian and NZ riders. I’ll hope to do a few stages, how could I resist!? 

Parting thought of the day/blog: Bring on Haute Route 2012 - details of our fully catered trip will be published by the end of September. 

A summation of the day from the organisers:

What Claude Droussent, French cycling specialist, says about Stage 7

STAGE 7 - AURON TO NICE

“Today, you are probably shattered, waking up every morning has become harder and harder each day. But today, you will be rewarded with the crossing of the Mercantour National Park, the backcountry and then Nice, the coast, the sea... The Col Saint Martin with its 1500 metres above the Vésubie is nothing compared to what you have already overcome. Beware of the distance however, 140 kilometres, it can seem a bit long... and at the finish, I dare you... to go for a dive in the Big Blue!”

Main features of Stage 7

• Start in St-Etienne-de-Tinée, Saturday 27th August at 08:00 
• End of timed stage in Carros, arrival between 10:50 and 12:50 
• Peloton gathering in Vence between 11:30 and 13:45 
• Final arrival in Nice around 15:30 • 140 km overall, 71 km timed 
• 1600 metres ascent / 2800 metres descent 
• 1 full refreshment station at the top of Col Saint Martin 
• 1 full refreshment station at the peloton gathering in Vence 

• 1 refreshment station after the finish line in Nice

1 col on the menu of Stage 7

• Col Saint Martin, 1500 metres high, summit 49 km from the start--

A little about Will Levy, la Haute Route and twowheeltours.com.au

TWT, mtnbike.com.au and bike shuttle.com.au are three companies based out of Sydney that offer road and mountain bike trips from Sydney to Canberra, New Zealand and Europe. We also transport/shuttle bikes to various races around Australia including the Noosa Triathlon and the Tour Down Under.
Will is taking part of the Haute Route Race in 2011, an innovative, prestigious and international cyclosportive with a unique concept: link Geneva to Nice by road bike in 7 timed consecutive stages on a legendary race course taking on 15 mythical cols and ascents of the Alps whilst covering 730 km.
twowheeltours.com.au will be at the Haute Route again in 2012 - we will be providing logistical support for riders, and their non riding partners, from Australia and New Zealand. This will include early arrival and pickup from Geneva Airport or CFF train station. Riders and their non riding partners will have first class accommodation on the lead up the race. During the race, non riders will have a bilingual guide taking them to daily activities. The trip will conclude with an extra two days, again in first class accommodation in Nice on the Promenade des Anglais.

Day Six - interview with Three Cyclists from La Haute Route

Thursday 25 August 2011

Location Auron

Name	Josie Heade
Where From	Windsor England
Age Bracket	36
Why Haute Route	It is a challenge and it gives Stuart (husband) a rest from running. Also I enjoy cycling in France, we’ve done an Etap and done some cycling ourselves in the area. We wanted to ride and not in UK conditions, such as potholes, rain, snow, sleet and in whats more in summer cycling attire. I’m not expecting to be competitive, it's more about the event.
Bike	Felt FW2 - 2008 - a Christmas present because we were signed up for the Etap in 2009.
Secret for Haute Route	Just showing up, I’ve had a copy of the route pinned at my desk for the last eight weeks, this is all the time that I have actually trained, to encourage me to get on the bike, rather than get the train home (from London).
Top 3 Excuses	I’ve had the wrong gears all week, my smallest gear was a 25, if I was to do it again it would be min 28. In reality I’m a runner not a cyclist.

Name	Paul Larsen
Where From	Healesville VIC - now lives on a boat somewhere between London and Namibia. [Note: Paul's is currently going for fastest sailing record - check out http://sailrocket.com/ for more information.]
Age Bracket	41
Why Haute Route	The Sun Tour use to come through Victoria and we’d host riders in our house. I use to watch the TdF, Phil Anderson, on Wide World of Sports and the Haute Route was something that I could sink my teeth into. To ride those winding roads which are used in the TdF, I see it as an honour and to be in that arena is just amazing.  This (riding) is something that we do on the side of sailing. I had a crash today and I know exactly why I crashed. I even feel satisfied that I crashed because now I have had the whole experience. I can now appreciate the professional riders that much more. I was fascinated watching the TdF and now even more so. I can now sit there, bore people, and say "I’ve been there" and "I know what’s coming up".
Bike	Chris Boardman - Team Carbon Pro
Secret for Haute Route	I've been training hard, we came here a few weeks before, I wanted to do the Haute Route justice and I wanted to enjoy being the fittest I had been ever in my life.
Top 3 Excuses	No excuses

Name	Martin Litterst
Where From	Heidelberg Germany
Age Bracket	48
Why Haute Route	Because I like races over more than 1 day, I did Tour Trans-Alp for four years. Now I’ve done Trans-Alp and Haute Route in one year. This region, I’ve been here, once but haven’t done every Col, it is the col’s of the TdF, the famous ones, specta mountains. Tour Trans-Alp, people from all over the world, very international. I get to meet people from other countries which is very nice.
Bike	Canyon Ultimate 2009
Secret for Haute Route	It is all mental - if I have someone I can fight against that helps me mentally, that makes me stronger, especially in the last climb. Todays sprint HR 170bpm. I am also riding with my friends, I do not want to let my three friends down in Team de Lux (England, Belgium, Germany and Lux - total # in TdL 20 riders)
Top 3 Excuses	If I don’t sleep enough, not good food. Also if it is raining!

26 August 2011 Summer Entry #28 Hello Haute Route Day Six

Next Stop Auron

La Haute Route 2011 - 'Ghost Town'

Pra Loup > Auron 

Weather - Cold + Hot - 11-23C

Stats

Time 3:23:22

Distance 74.89km

Elevation 2,057m

Avg Speed 22.1km/h

Max HR 166 bpm

Avg HR 131 bpm

Winning Time 2:09:23 - footage of them ascending Col de la Bonette (Y’day day 5 ... sorry forgot -  3:40:25) 

Results can be found here ... don’t worry I still don’t know how I’m doing!

The official review of the Haute Route Stage from today is below.  Also, to see video footage from each days stage at the Haute Route check here, there is some great footage. 

Food - Breakfast this morning, outstanding, cereal, fruit, chocolate donuts and juice. Enough to fill some of the holes in my legs. I did wake up at 4:30 this morning and was hungry, nothing like eating a Grany at that time of the morning - please note that a Grany is a type of cake. 

Weather - spectacular, perfect weather for a 75k ride. Then again there was quite a bit of wind when getting close to the top of Cime de la Bonette, thank goodness for riding in a pack, even when climbing a hill. 

Mode of Transport - Ferrari F430 which was seen on the descent from Cime de la Bonette - unfortunately it wasn’t actually moving just sitting there on the side of the road. I didn’t have a chance to take a photo as the descent from Cime de la Bonette is just amazingly fast! Speaking of which, I can honestly say that I’m not the best descender but I do ok but when you have other riders/racers FLY by you, even on blind corners, you feel a taken aback. Then again after hearing that there were a few accidents on the descent, I’m happy to say that I rode within my capabilities.  The other one is the Cannondale v Cannondale this morning, CAAD 2 v CAAD 10 - classic!

Conversation - afternoon snack, crepe, in Auron with my roomie Gregor, T-Rex (German) and Raging Bull (English) about life in general. Topics included architecture, benefits of music while exercising - should it be illegal, benefits of jam on performance, hair and history. BTW T-Rex and Raging Bull are their war riding names.

Animal - hmm a tough one today, I still haven’t seen a marmot. I know that others have seen them, including at the top of Cime de la Bonette this morning but alas I’ve still not been able to see one. The hunt continues. 

What else of note - The army barracks/turrets that are on Cime de la Bonette are great. On the ascent and descent you turrets and some dilapidated barracks. Then on the flying descent you go through another mini village, very ghost town-ish. I should have stopped to take some pictures but it was one of those things, going 60+ and trying to stop isn’t really part of ‘racing’. 

Parting thought of the day/blog: Tomorrow is the last day of the 2011 Haute Route, it is hard to believe but time is running out. I look back at the photos and it seems like weeks ago that we started in Geneva. I guess that is the case when you pack as much ‘fun’ into a week. Plenty of k’s, col’s and conversations with some truly fantastic people - bring on the 2012 Haute Route.

A summation of the day from the organisers:

What Claude Droussent, French cycling specialist, says about Stage 6

STAGE 6 - PRA LOUP TO AURON

“Enjoy... if you still can! The Cime de la Bonette, its 25 kilometres of ascent from Jausiers, its 2802 meters high making it the highest road in Europe and the ‘roof’ of the Haute Route is all yours! Especially the breathtaking scenery in an incredible silence in the heart of the Mercantour National Park. The Galibier is stunning, the Bonette even more so. A world of its own...

But you have to work for it. You’ll often face 8-9% slopes but you will also have to be able to ‘rest’ on the long sections at 5%. The Bonette showcases irregular slopes. You should expect two hours of ascent, a little bit more if you want to enjoy the surroundings. It is even better than a good performance here. And this way, you can also save some energy because even if there are only 78 kilometres on that day to reach Auron, the final ascent has a 8-9% gradient...”

Main feature of Stage 6

• Start in Pra Loup, Friday 26th August at 08:30 
• Arrival in Auron between 11:25 and 13:40 
• 78 km overall, 59 km timed • 2300 metres of ascent / 2300 metres of descent
• 1 full refreshment station at the Cime de la Bonette 

• 1 refreshment station after the finish line

2 ascents on the menu of Stage 6

• Cime de la Bonette, 2802 metres high, summit 43 km from the start - 4 times in TdF

• Final ascent to Auron, arrival at 1600 meters high

---

A little about Will Levy, la Haute Route and twowheeltours.com.au

TWT, mtnbike.com.au and bike shuttle.com.au are three companies based out of Sydney that offer road and mountain bike trips from Sydney to Canberra, New Zealand and Europe. We also transport/shuttle bikes to various races around Australia including the Noosa Triathlon and the Tour Down Under.
Will is taking part of the Haute Route Race in 2011, an innovative, prestigious and international cyclosportive with a unique concept: link Geneva to Nice by road bike in 7 timed consecutive stages on a legendary race course taking on 15 mythical cols and ascents of the Alps whilst covering 730 km.
twowheeltours.com.au will be at the Haute Route again in 2012 - we will be providing logistical support for riders, and their non riding partners, from Australia and New Zealand. This will include early arrival and pickup from Geneva Airport or CFF train station. Riders and their non riding partners will have first class accommodation on the lead up the race. During the race, non riders will have a bilingual guide taking them to daily activities. The trip will conclude with an extra two days, again in first class accommodation in Nice on the Promenade des Anglais.