Galibier-Izoard b Sportive

Double troubl�With multiple ascents of two giant climbs in the Alps, the Supergranfondo Galibier-Izoard proves to be an epic day out Words JOSEPH DELVES Photography DAVID WREN

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he tiny town of in the region of is home to a lot of churches. Little chapels and private shrines sprout on every corner, as do crosses and effigies of the Virgin Mary. Chief among these is the fabulous Rococo-style Notre Dame de l’Assomption in the town centre, which is far grander than the small Tcommunity would seem to require. But when you live somewhere as remote and exposed as this high mountain town, you probably want all the divine assistance you can muster. On the morning of the Grand Trophée Supergranfondo Galibier-Izoard, a crowd of cyclists gathers near the church, almost doubling the commune’s population. At this altitude we In only a few turns it feels as

if we’ve been are already above the Col du Télégraphe, but that doesn’t mean we’re in for a long descent to start folded into the the day, because Valloire sits below an even more fearsome climb, the Col du Galibier. mountains The stats are pretty scary. Ahead of us lies 4,672m of climbing over 180km. We’ll start by Above: A combination going up and over the Galibier at 2,645m, before of starter gun and Ed making our way south to the equally barbarous Sheeran blaring over the speakers have Col d’Izoard at 2,360m. Then it’s back around the field sprinting to face the Galibier again from the other side. from the off I know I’m not really in shape to tackle such a Left: A great trench brutal course, but I’m here now and eager to get of meltwater from going, not least because the speaker system has the Galibier marks the edge of town just started playing Ed Sheeran’s ‘Galway Girl’. We head straight out of town, and in only a few turns it feels as if we’ve been folded into the mountains. Penned in by 45° slopes, and with no sight of civilisation, it’s a dizzying landscape. We’re already almost 1,500m up and we only have The details a few kilometres of pedalling before we take a Pack your climbing shoes sharp right onto the climb of the Galibier. What: Grand Trophée Supergranfondo There’s a lot to be said for starting the day Galibier-Izoard with a big mountain, and I’m unexpectedly Where: Valloire, France full of vim and optimism. How far: 180km/73km Next one: 22nd June 2019 First among mountains Price: 70€ (£60)/50€ (£45) When founder More info: grandtrophee.fr first included the Galibier in the race in 1911 it P

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P dwarfed everything that had come before, and As we climb they solidify into sizable banks at Right: A bare peak only three riders made it to the summit without the roadside. The temperature grows colder even guards the way up to the Col du Galibier pushing. In 1976 the tunnel that allowed riders as the sun rises in the sky. to cut through under the summit was closed, This is a big, attritional climb, but it’s steady Below left: The early slopes set the adding a further 86m and helping the Galibier in gradient and I have been strict with myself tone, and it’s steady retain its title as the highest-ever finish line in about not overcooking my effort, so I find that going for the next hour the Tour at 2,642m – a record it still holds. I’m not suffering too much. A little over an hour More than a decade before I owned a road bike, after starting and I’m standing on the top. I ran home from school to watch Channel 4’s As cols go the Galibier is pleasingly functional. half-hour highlights of the Tour. As a teenager in Unlike the roads built to service luxuries like ski the 90s, I was dumbstruck by how anyone could stations, or scenic routes created specifically to ride, let alone compete on, such things. It was draw in the tourists, it was born out of necessity. then that road racing got its hooks into me. With little inclination to linger in the wilds, on I remember watching duking reaching its highest point on the saddle between it out with Jan Ullrich right here at the 1998 the Savoie and Haute Alpes regions it simply Tour, and 20 years later there’s still a thrill in turns around and heads back down. Ill-suited to climbing up a mountain with the names of my hosting a summit finish, it looks as if it would be heroes – Mayo, Pantani, Contador – still just hard pushed to accommodate more than a few about legible on the tarmac. campervans, let alone TV cameras and the rest It’s quite early in the summer, and there are of the normal finish line rigmarole. Still, it’s patches of snow dotted around the lower slopes. a spectacular spot.

I pass the twin monuments to and Louison Bobet. Quitting here would definitely be bad form

Its wide, sweeping corners and open lines of nondescript farmland and villages, occasionally sight make racing down off it an utter joy. The clattering along decayed back roads as we head cold morning air cuts through me, and I try to for the town of Guillestre, which will mark the shake life into my limbs as I whizz downwards start of our next major climb. with reckless abandon. At the base of the Izoard climb I find myself As the incline peters out it makes sense to team alone as I enter the spectacular Gorges du Guil, up. Soon I’m sitting in with a bunch of riders and hemmed in on either side by vertiginous cliffs. I have to remind myself to rein it in, as it makes The upward gradient is almost imperceptible little sense to burn myself out before the next but my average speed is slowing all the time. climb. Still, it’s fun to go fast for little effort and For the next 15km I slog away until I arrive the pace stays stupidly high for nearly an hour. at the commune of Arvieux and the rest stop Sadly it’s not possible to stay in the peaks that marks the start of the Col d’Izoard proper. forever. For around 30km we pass through Dunking myself into a water fountain to cool P The rider’s ride Specialized S-Works Tarmac, £9,250, specialized.com With many of its competitors going boxy and integrated, could the latest Tarmac be one of the last knockout-looking superbikes? Specialized’s pure-bred racer is no slower for the addition of disc brakes, but definitely stops a lot faster. Supposedly as aerodynamic as the old version of the Venge, with medium-depth carbon rims and fast, grippy tyres, it’s very quick. It’s also comfortable and stupidly fun to descend on thanks to impeccable handling. The dual-sided power meter in the crankset is a nice touch, even if the figures I was producing by the second climb did nothing to help my morale.

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The second ascent takes about an hour, despite me desperately trying to glue myself to any passing wheel

P down, I realise I hadn’t planned to be anywhere I pass the twin monuments to Fausto near this knackered by the start of the second Coppi and Louison Bobet. Quitting here would climb. There is still 10km to go to the summit, definitely be bad form, so I put all negative and this is where it starts to get steep. thoughts out of my head and crank onwards. The switchbacks ahead represent the steepest Through the desert part of the climb at 10%. Then, finally, it’s over. Left: From the valley Back on the bike and into the trees, my legs are With a cafe, small cycling museum and a floor, the road turns just about working. The best part of an hour later monument erected by Le Club Alpin Francais across the river to as the greenery thins out along with the oxygen at the top, a collection of riders and motorcycle weave through the high peaks levels it’s a struggle to keep them moving. tourists mills about. Although the sun is up high, The scenery is spectacular, but I can’t say I’m and the col several hundred metres lower than Top: Only the rush of water heading in the enjoying it. Finally I pop out from the confines the Galibier, I decide to pull on all my warmers opposite direction hints of the forest and find myself in the otherworldly for the descent. It’s a good move, as the rushing at the gradient in the landscape of La Casse Déserte, a barren mess of air instantly chills my sweaty limbs which are Gorges du Guil scree slopes and rock pillars carved into strange now too tired to generate their own heat. shapes by the wind. My theory that I only needed to worry about This is the scene of legendary Tour battles the climbs, and that the intervening periods since the Izoard was first included in 1922, and would take care of themselves, has proved to I’m suitably impressed that those early pioneers be bunkum. With the Izoard done, the 20km could make it up without the luxury of modern grind between Briançon and the second ascent gearing. As it is, devoid of shade and baking in of the Galibier takes about an hour, despite me the midday sun, I find myself struggling to stay desperately trying to glue myself to any passing on top of my comparatively genteel ratios. wheel along the way. P

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P Many bits of me hurt in weird and unexpected ways. I’d pictured myself attempting to beat my earlier time up the Galibier; now I’m wondering if I’ll make it up at all. At the penultimate stop, I take off my shoes and lie down on the concrete. I’ve been rolling for more than seven hours. When I eventually get going again, it takes an age grinding up an interminable valley until I feel as if I’m really onto the mountain. In idiot mode, I tick off pedal strokes one at a time. The memory of whizzing down so easily this morning now feels like a cruel joke. I start recognising sights from earlier, first the abandoned tunnel beside Le Rif Blanc, then the newer avalanche tunnel just below the . When I reach the hump that marks the boundary between the valleys of the Romanche and the Guisane it appears that in my befuddled state I’ve invented a rest stop for myself. There are no tanks of energy drink or massive piles of sandwiches, just shell-shocked cyclists huddled outside a cafe. I grant myself a sit down anyway.

Having already been climbing for 30km, and with 8.5km still to go, I know I’m in for a final kicking. With my speed not even in double digits, I can’t guarantee it will be less than an hour. At least from here the route turns off the busier road and the scenery returns to peak Alpine splendour.

Nature break By now I’m really wrecked and cursing the fact I didn’t invest in a wider-ratio cassette. The sun is hot, my legs are cramping and my brain feels mushy. Still, this is the most beautiful climb I’ve ever ridden. The sheer rocks, the snow piled on Above: Riders race off the edges of the tarmac and the swooping birds the Galibier, just below of prey all add to the effect. There are no tanks of energy the monument to Tour de France founder Sadly, scenery can only fuel your legs so far. drink or massive piles of Henri Desgrange Just as I’m wondering if it would be quicker to Right: Sadly there's walk, I spot a large black object by the roadside sandwiches, just shell shocked no cable car in which ahead. As I crawl closer it reveals itself to be to hitch a lift up either a huge boar. It has presumably been hit by a the Izoard or Galibier cyclists huddled outside a cafe car – its feet point skyward and its black belly - is swelling in the sun. I give it a wide berth and P CYCLIST.CO.UK 115 Sportive b Galibier-Izoard

After 180km and three HC climbs, riders approach the final corner

P a sympathetic nod. I suppose there are worse things than feeling tired on a bike. When I wake up A little further up there’s nature of a more vital kind. Scampering beside a snowbank are my nose is slightly two chunky marmots. Despite having visited the Alps several times, it’s the first time I’ve seen sunburnt. But these dog-sized rodents. This definitely warrants an extra stop. I watch them from a discreet my day is not distance for a while before they scamper off. As I return to the climb, I’m congratulating quite over yet myself on spotting the marmots when I turn a corner and there are dozens of the critters, How we did it loads of them, all sleek and looking well fed. think I’ve ever ridden this slowly. I keep trying TRAVEL Apparently, the late-arriving spring has seen to make it to the next corner, then the next, then You won’t be getting to Valloire other than a rash of them appearing on the mountainside. the next. Eventually, I lift my head up enough by car. We flew into Geneva and rented at Up the road I can make out an ant-like line of and see the finish just two hairpins above. the airport. Just make sure you leave via riders crawling along the upper slopes. It takes This is the steepest section at 10-12%. From the French and not the Swiss exit. A return from Gatwick with Easyjet cost £150 plus me a long time to drag myself up there too. I don’t here all that’s left to me by way of motivation £84 for the bike. is to sneak in under the nine-hour mark. I just manage to get out of the saddle and make my ACCOMMODATION self-imposed time cut. Very comfortable rooms along with secure Wobbling about on shaky legs, I find a spot to bike storage were provided by Hotel Les nap for half an hour behind the finish line, and Melezes (hotel-les-melezes.com), which when I wake up my nose is slightly sunburnt. is a large chalet-style hotel in the centre of But my day is not quite over yet. Valloire. Prices from €69 (£50) per night. Finishing atop the Galibier, the final roll down back to Valloire isn’t included in the stated BIKES For bike hire, Snow And Bike in Valloire distance, but unless you intend on camping on (snow-bike-valloire.com) has a quality the mountain, it’s unavoidable. Pushing the rental fleet and a range of spares. day’s total north of 200km, it’s the best descent ] of the lot. THANKS Joseph Delves is a freelance writer who can still Many thanks to Remy and Eric at Grand feel the ride in his legs several months later Trophée for the invitation.

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