PARIS, France - The route for the 2015 Etape du Tour, perhaps Europe's most famous Gran Fondo, was announced this morning as part of the presentation of the route for the 2015 Tour de France.
Each year the Etape du Tour gives 13,000 riders the chance to ride exactly the same stage route as the pro riders. Organisers have this year chosen one of the toughest mountain stages in the French Alps, with amateurs given the chance to ride 88 miles (142km) which includes over 13,250 feet (4,079) metres of climbing.
The route runs from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, near the French-Italian border, to La Toussuire, a ski resort. The route is almost a loop, meaning that it will be relatively easy for riders to organise themselves and not have to find transport back from the finish (it is easy to ride from La Toussuire back to the start village of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne). It takes in several tricky climbs, including the Col du Chaussy, the legendary Col du Glandon/Croix de Fer (which are two summits close to each other) and the Col du Mollard before a 10 mile climb at the end up to La Toussuire. Our European sister site Sportive.com has prepared a full analysis of the Etape du Tour 2015 route.
For American riders who have not considered doing an Etape du Tour, the appeal of the event is that it is run on closed roads and it brings together riders from across the world. Last year's Etape saw riders from 90 different countries taking part. It's an extremely friendly event and with almost half the field made up of British riders you don't need to worry about any language issues.
There are 13,000 entries available this year and entries - which cost around $170 - go on sale at 3am EST (that's the French for you!) on Thursday 6 November at the official Etape du Tour website.
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