The Ardechoise Cyclosportive

Sun 14 to Sun 21 June 2009

The Ardechoise is the largest mass participation event in France with over 13 000 participants. The organsers have adopted the 'cycling for all' approach offering several circuits of different distances. You can either ride it as a timed cyclosportive or as an untimed randonnee.

The atmosphere is such that many people who ride it as a cyclosportive return to ride it as a randonnee so that they can take in all the sideshows put on by the locals. These include musicians, clowns, jugglers, decorated bikes and hippies sitting by the road smoking dope and having very interesting conversations.

More information can be found on the Ardechoise wesite

Circuits

Distance

Climbing

Le Doux

66km

1081m

Le Boutieres

120km

2122m

Le Volcanique

170km

3042m

L'Ardechoise

216km

4117m

Les Sucs

236km

4100m

Velo Marathon

268km

5175m
 

How the week will go

The week will be based in St Nazaire-en-Royans from where there is a good variety of terrain and some spectacular routes into the Vercors with similar gradients to the Ardeche.

On the Saturday morning we'll drive to the start of the event at St Felicien and return in the evening. The journey takes about 60 minutes.

How fit do you need to be?

With the choice of circuits avaliable the event is suitable for a range of fitness levels. Although there's not much flat terrain in the Ardeche, the gradients are around the 5% mark (about 1 in 20) so they are quite pleasant. They sometimes give you the impression that they will never end and the last climb is steep with a few kilometres at over 10%.

It's a great event to take part in and the 170km circuit can be enjoyed by anyone who is reasonably fit. If your training doesn't quite go as you planned you can opt to do a shorter circuit.

Price : 7 nights : See Prices page

Includes: Dinner, bed and breakfast (based on two people sharing), route maps, local information, training advice and entry fees and travel to/from the Ardechoise. Excludes travel and insurance.

Single rooms available.

NB : You are required to supply a medical certificate if you want to have an official time, however if you don't supply one you get entered as a Cyclo-Touriste and are given a time but your name won't be on the official results.

Joining the Tour

The week runs from the Sunday to the Sunday although if you fly into Grenoble or get the train to Valence we might be able to be flexible with the dates.

For more details see the Gastrobiking travel section .

You can fly by Ryanair to Grenoble or take the train to Valence TGV. From outside Europe it’s best to fly to Geneva then take the train. You can arrange to arrive on other dates to fit with your arrangements.

The tour links up with the European Bike Express