They do seem to have become more corporate since Ironman took over
I came across the Giro del Dolomiti, which I thought looked good, has anybody done this event?
6 day stage race, but you can pick and choose your stages
I might look at this for 23 instead of Haute Route
They revealed the new calendar and it is the 2021 destinations all over again. Very disappointing.
They altered the courses a little (crans Montana has different climbs on the first stage).
I had to cancel HR alps due to knee injury. I cancelled on june 12, and as of today Aug 20, i still have not received my partial refund. Cant say im too happy that they cant try a little harder to return some of my fundsâŠ.i mean they still are getting over $1500 from me since i cancelled late
Yeah, looking at the calendar next year, I am not to crazy about participating at all againâŠ
Ventoux for example has gotten significantly easier.
6600m of climbing compared to 7900m last time round. Also the ascent from Sault is now only up to Charles Reynard.
In general the trend seems to be easier:
Alps is now 70k shorter than this yearâs edition and 2000m less climbing. Thatâs basically half a stage lessâŠ
Donât know what the thought process here is. Not saying an event is only great when each day is 200k, 5000m. But especially HR Alps is defined for me by being the hardest cyclosportif.
Donât know how relevant this is to the topic, but I must say: I am not surprised this is a thing, but still find it pretty shocking.
According to another Article he got caught at HR AdH. I donât even know what that means. Do they ask for samples there?
So Ed Laverack won the HR AdH, and I placed one up also 
I know itâs a thing, but I really donât understand the point of doping by amateurs. As if anybody cares about your results.
Doping in professional AND amateur sports is SOOO MUCH MORE prevalent, than anyone cares to admit.
In bodybuilding there is the saying: Most people donât take PEDs to win medals, but to be a swole waiter. (Waiter is just a random job here).
People take gear to feed their ego, and I must say I understand them to a degree. Progress, performing well etc. is what drives me as an amateur. Not to be motivated during a race, but to stay motivated during a 4 hour turbo ride in November.
I am actually positively surprised that this ever hit the surface.
Doesnât the film Icarus start with suspicions about a top rider doping at the haute route?
Yeah, thatâs correct. However, the maker of Icarus hit a fluke with being in close contact with the right person at the right time, and then the documentary takes a sharp turn, without ever being conclusive on this topic.
While it is of course a great documentary, it might leave people with the perception about PEDs, that they donât really do that much (he performs worse in the year he took PEDs, than in the year before, where he participated clean). That is of course not correct. There are people that will respond better, and others that will respond worse to PED consumption.
Sadly enough, âbeing genetically blessedâ in sports doesnât only mean that you have a lot of natural talent, but also that you are responding well to PED usage. At least that is the case in every competitive sport Iâve ever been around.
In terms of Haute Route, there was at least one other participant, that I am all but certain is enhanced.
To not have this topic derail too much into this miserable realm of cheating, itâs probably best to just stop discussing this any further.
I just found it interesting that there is finally confirmation about the things we all kinda knew before.
Is anyone here doing HR Davos this weekend? Hereâs a quick note â from me, not the organizers â for those coming to do it. (I live a 90min drive away, so Iâll use âcoming toâ rather than âgoing to.â) The weather is looking better, with a high in Davos of ±15ÂșC (59F) and a low of 4-6ÂșC (about 40F), which is a bit higher of a low from when I looked yesterday, so thatâs nice. I havenât checked the summits, but I have this story to shareâŠ
Back on 17 September 2017, precisely five years ago yesterday for those skimming and not paying attention, was a Challenge Triathlon in Davos. Because it was snowing, my wife said I shouldnât even take my bike because of course theyâll cancel the bike. Well, it was already a biathlon because they had canceled the swim: the lake was too cold, even with wetsuits. During the bike check-in the day before (Friday afternoon), there was a good amount of snow falling and there were inches / centimeters on the ground. The decision was to make the bike an uphill time trial, up FlĂŒelastrasse (the climb right in Davos, near the lake and the iconic WEF hotel)⊠for less than 6 miles because thatâs about as far as the plows had cleared the roads. The ride up was timed, with soup at the top, and a suggestion to take jackets with you. The return, down the same road, was neutralized to keep the speed low and minimize crashes, with the timer starting again once leaving T2 (or, rather, T1 as it were) for the run.
Just a story to share. If a front moves in and we get snow dumped on us, I wonât be surprised even if it is mid-September.
(Iâm sure I took pictures, like at the bike check-in, but I canât find them. I must have wanted to excise the photographic evidence, I didnât even upload pics to Strava!)
HR Alps Course announced:
The queen stage (3) and a TT of Col du Granon are great, but besides that I find the route pretty unimaginative.
The route covers the Alpe dâHuez alternative route 3 times, and it was part of 2 Haute Route events last season, too.
Agree unimaginative and from friends of mine I understand most of the parcours is neutralised these daysâŠ
I gotta disagree with taking issue with the neutralization part. âMostâ is definitely a massive hyperbole. Many descents are neutralized and sometimes they neutralize stretches of road because of weather or road works.
Haute Route is focused on climbs, so thatâs why these are the main decider of winning.
Here is an example of my most recent HR experience:
For me, the neutralized roads are actually a main point for HR.
The was a mini documentary on a top 10 finisher of this yearâs Ătzi (Ătztaler Radmarathon). The top group raced the descents at over 100kph, and the guy said âit was risky, it was gusty and some corners still had wet spots, but thatâs what you have to do to winâ.
Yeah, I donât wanna risk my life to have a chance of finishing high in a race. Itâs cool if most people want to do this, but I donât. So I like there being an alternative.
Maybe âmostâ should be âtoo muchâ, but as I said this is not my opinion but what from guys (top ten) tell me where they feel having so much neutralised takes an element away from the course/raceâŠ.should be said these guys are highly proficient descenders who still rail the descents anyway(!) and I realise not everyone is comfortable descending but they feel itâs a little unbalancedâŠ.
I completely understand that. I have seen LoĂŻc Ruffaut, who regularly top 3s any event he participates in, including la Marmotte, HR Alps, La Marmotte Pyrenees, Tour de Mont Blanc etc. - complain about the same thing.
He also recently won the the HR Davos.
Guys like these are literally professional cyclists. Yes, they donât have a pro card, but thatâs their decision. Some of these people do cycling for a living, or have lived and cycled in the high mountains for years and decades.
I completely understand that someone like that would really race a full stage, including the descends.
Thatâs cool, and there are tons of events for that.
I am a fit guy, who doesnât live in the high mountains, doesnât possess a ton of natural skill, and who values health over realism (these are simulated pro races after all, not actual genuine pro races)
I like to race my hard out to the top, and then get myself to the next climb safely.
Is there an equivalent event for Gravel or MTB?
Yes, @grviguy. The Gravel Epic series. I had signed up to do several of their events in 2020 (Marrakech, Mt Etna in Sicily, Slovenia) but, um, something came up. Marrakech was supposed to happen this April 2022, but Morocco didnât open in time for the advance team (per direct email w/ organizers), so that was canceled.
Haute Route bought Gravel Epic in early 2021, before HR was purchased by IM.
There was a Switzerland edition off the ground, which GCN covered:
I canât get the Gravel Epic website to load, and I find no reference to GE on the HR site. I emailed one of the GE folks at his HR email, but it bounced. So, maybe the ultimate answer is⊠no?
If you want a multi-day mtb event, Iâve heard this is great: https://www.epic-series.com/swissepic
Thanks for the info. It does look like a failed venture.
Pyrenees Course has been revealed.
Despite the Col de Portet missing, it is a pretty great course.
I really love how they implemented the climbs if Andorra. Puerto Envalira is not only the highest road in the Pyrenees, but it is also the second highest road in Europe, that is open year round (only trailing the road to Sierra Nevada village, that is another 100m higher).
HauteRoute informed that there will be no more Compact Events. Theyâve been abolished completely. Instead theyâve decided to make all courses easier to make them accessible to more riders.
