Our riders will be split into 3 categories for the race, the blue, the red and the black groups. The groups will reflect your cycling speed and ability and so you will then only be racing against riders of a similar level to you. Each group is therefore in its own mini competition and you will all be racing for sprint or climbing points and the coveted yellow, green or red polka dot jerseys jerseys within your particular group.
Graham Bell will be leading the black group with two other ride leaders leading the red and blue groups. The race itself begins in Courmayeur at the foot of Mont Blanc.
Petit St Bernard:
We begin by heading south and within 20km, we encounter our first category 1 climb of the race, the Petit St Bernard, with its peak at 2188m. The climb is 27.6km long, climbing a vertical distance of 1,282m with an average incline of 4.6%. At the top of the pass, we then descned into and through Bourg St Maurice until we reach the Cormet de Roselend, our second category 1 climb.
Cormet de Roselend:
At 19.3km, the Cormet de Roselend is shorter than the Petit St Bernard but is 1.5% steeper. By the top, we will have climbed a vertical distance of 1,154m and as a reward, we get a long descent into Beaufort.
Col de Saisies:
From Beaufort, it's then a race through the relative flats before the Col de Saisies, our third and final category 1 climb. The steepest climb we have encountered thus far at 6.4%, it stretches for just shy of 15km and will see us climb almost a vertical kilometre.
Megeve to Chamonix:
We then descend into Flumet and race through approximately 10km of small towns into Megeve before our final climb of the day, Megeve to Chamonix. The climb only sees us head up half a vertical kilometre but having ridden close to 155km by this point, you will need to dig deep for this final 20km stretch. Chamonix and the finish line will then rapidly come in to view and as you cross the line, you can congratulate yourself on having raced 176km, 2km longer than La Marmotte, and climbed over 4 vertical kilometres.
From Chamonix, we will then take you back through the Mont Blanc tunnel and back to Courmayeur for one of the most deserving beers you could ever drink!
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