Étape du Tour: Annemasse – Morzine

How to survive a long ride with +4k meters of climbing? Is Étape du Tour worth to join? What can we expect on Saturday stage at Tour de France?

Last Sunday thanks to Tissot I had the chance to take part in the fearsome Étape du Tour, 152 kilometers and more than 4000 meters of climbing from Annemasse to Morzine, on the route of Tour de France Saturday stage. I have so much to tell that I am not sure where to start from. Deep breath, let’s start from the beginning.

Annemasse – Morzine: the route and how to survive long rides in the heat

The route of the 2023 Étape du Tour was a challenging one with its 6 climbs and the temperatures peaking at 40°C in the valley and decreasing to only 30°C on top of the climbs. The route is a rollercoaster, you are either going up or down, with only about ten kilometres of horizontal riding splitting up the first and second half of the stage. The first half of the route is the easier one and not only because of the fresh legs, but also because gradients are sweet and never demanding and climbs short. The second part, there is where hell begins. Col de la Ramaz is 14 kilometres long, with an average gradient around 7% and a rough segment where gradients go double digit, but the real killer is the last climb, Col de Joux Plane. Col de Joux Plane is only 11 kilometres, sadly the road is constantly around 9-10%, always. Taken alone, I wouldn’t consider it so hard: I have done way more demanding climbs, but with 3000 meters of ascending in the legs and way too many hours in the heat, it felt like the most challenging climb ever. There are no attention segments, the whole climb is very regular with its treachery. One of the worst parts was the lack of shadow, roads shine in the sun without any possibility to cool down a bit with only the nice landscapes (especially in the last part of Col de la Ramaz) making up for their brutality.

Thinking about the Tour de France, this stage will be perfect terrain for attacks and ambushes, if they manage isolate you in the first half, they can hurt you really bad in the second. For the pros it will be a short stage and also for this I expect it to be explosive since the beginning, or I hope so.

But as we are no pros, for us the ride wasn’t a short one, but a long infinite procession towards Morzine, so: how to survive longs rides and intense efforts in the heat?

I have a few rules I impose myself in these situations that are common to most of the cyclist, and some random ones I came up with over the years. Here a list of things to keep in mind to survive the long rides and heat:

• Drink, drink, drink more! Hydration is essential, I always have one bottle filled with water and one with maltodextrin and sip frequently, even if not thirsty. You must stop at every feeding station, even if you feel like you are “losing time”, you are not. You must drink a lot. For the nutrition I always rely on isotonic gels, as they are way easier to eat. I use to take them before every climb and even in the middle, if it is a long one. Having something solid in the stomach is as essential as eating enough gels. On long days like these I always eat a protein bar mid ride and snacks at the feeding stations. Unfortunatly, l’Etape stations weren’t great in terms of food choice, if you have delicate stomach like me, pack extra stuff in your pockets and don’t rely on something you don’t know how will impact you (self reminder to myself too).
• Use descents to recover and stretch – descending fast and careless when traffic is closed is one of my favourite things, but having wooden legs at the beggining of the climbs is one of the things I hate most, therefore I always use descents to recover and stretch. I stretch legs (especially hamstrings), but also back and neck/shoulders, trying to relax all the muscles. Plus, I always move toes (and not only downhill), as feet are the sensitive part of my body when it comes to cramps.
• Pace yourself, take it easy! – I know: you have fresh legs, you feel good, roads are incredibly nice and you want to give it all. Don’t, just don’t. Take it easy, even if doing so might feel harder than pushing every watt you have. In long rides you can’t go full gas from beginning to end, pace yourself and stay in your comfort zone and save energies. In almost 7 hours and 50 minutes I only spent 6 minutes in Z4, riding uphill only in my Z2 – Z3.
• Bonus track – the obvious: but make sure to have decent training hours in the legs some decent fondo rides (and try not to pull a back muscles just a few weeks before like I stupidly did)

With these simple rules, you are half way to the finishing line, where after 10 kilometers of descent towards Morzine I showed my only half-smile of the day.

Étape du Tour – is it worth it?

Yes, the Étape du Tour is absolutely worth it. I feel stupid for not considering it earlier: the organization is outstanding, the roads closed to traffic for the whole day, starting grids well distributed in time to avoid accidents, hundreds of volounteers, every potentially dangerous corner well signed, the right amount of feeding stations and above all an incredible atmosphere. The roads and towns were packed with locals cheering for all the participants, giving us water, ready with water barrels in the hands asking permission to shower us. It was an increadible feast, that made you savor the Tour atmosphere. I was so incredibly surprised and delighted, it was awesome and makes it straight to the top spots of my personal list of sportives to do at least once.

Only little disappointment was the food: dear organizers, next time make sure to pack feeding zones with Coke and ask me to cook pasta 🙂

What’s next?

Experiences like these drain me, but always make me crave for more and even if in the short term I will only focus on work and holidays, I can’t stop thinking what challenge I should target next, any idea?