14/15 May – COL DE PRAT DE BOUC: intermediate - based at the lovely Gliffaes Hotel: £425 (sharing a twin room) / £465 (single - subject to availability). Pro-rider guided and supported training rides on Saturday and Sunday in glorious countryside; seminar on completing major sportives; massage; great food... Only a few places left on this weekend.
25/26 June – ALPE D’HUEZ: strenuous: a weekend of hard riding in the terrific scenery of the Brecon Beacons. No prisoners taken: this is the culmination of your training schedule for the big one in July...
Price £425 (sharing a twin room) / £465 (single - subject to availability).
If you'd like to reserve a place on any of the above weekends, contact Rob Penn now:
UK Etape Training was set up by Rob Penn in 2008 to provide
small group, fully supported training weekends, lead by pro cyclists, in the
Brecon Beacons National Park, the finest Etape training countryside in the UK.
Ride hard, eat well and sleep deeply is the ethos behind UK Etape Training. Rob
is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller It’s All About the Bike: the Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels and
presenter of Ride of My Life: the Story
of the Bicycle broadcast on BBC 4 and 2. He also writes for the Sunday
Times ‘Cycle Guy’ column and a handful of cycling publications.
The organisers of the Etape du Tour have gone off-piste for
2011: there are two alternative routes, staged on 11th July and 17th
July. The routes are in different parts of France, across different distances
and varied terrain.
Etape Act I, which follows Stage 19 of the Tour de France
over the Alps from Modane to Alpe d’Huez, will be on 11th July: the
ride crosses Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and finishes with the infamous 21
hairpins to reach Alpe d’Huez. Rob rode these climbs last summer. At 109 km,
it’s 70 or so km short of the standard Etape suffer-fest and the shortest ever route,
but… but… there are 4,000 vertical metres to ascend – making it a monster.
The Etape Act II follows Stage 9 of the Tour de France,
through the Massif Central, good cycling territory that will be familiar to
readers of Tim Krabbe’s The Rider. At
208 km, it’s a big, big day out but it’s classified as a ‘medium mountain
stage’ by the Tour de France and there are no headline-grabbing climbs.
So, one for the grimpeurs
and one for rouleurs.
Where would you like it to hurt?
In the Brecon Beacons, we’ve got the terrain that can help
you prepare for either (or both) of these routes
- something you can't say about the Surrey Hills or the Chilterns.
'Nigh on perfect! The weather, the routes, the vehicle support, the accommodation and your personal enthusiasm were all brilliant.' Mike Smith, Managing Director, Baxter Storey.
The best Etape training countryside in the UK
We are based in the Usk Valley, between the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons, in the heart of the National Park. The finest road cycling in southern Britain and the home training ground for pros like Nicole Cooke, Magnus Backstedt and Geraint Thomas is our backyard. And we're only 2 hours 30 minutes by train from London. Almost uniquely for the UK, the climbs here are long: our rides take in many of the UK Category 1 climbs included in the Dragon Ride and the Tour of the Black Mountains - two of the toughest cyclosportives in the UK calendar - as well as the Tour of Britain and the Grand Prix of Wales. These long climbs will give you an invaluable insight into the Etape 'suffer-fest'.
'Brilliantly organised and fun weekend. For the first time I think I might actually make it round the Etape.' Charles Farara, Bloomberg, London
Professionally guided and supported etape training rides
Our Saturday rides are guided and paced by professional cyclists with years of racing experience. Several have competed for Team GB and in World Championships. The Sunday rides are more relaxed, and guided by local racers with a wealth of cyclosportive experience to pass on. We provide professional support in the form of a backup vehicle carrying everything you need - energy snacks, fruit, a proper lunch (not just another gel), spare wheels, tools and an extra layer for those fast descents. For an entire weekend, all you have to think about is how you are riding: we'll take care of everything else.
And some luxury to finish the day
Jacques Anquetil famously said he liked to prepare for a race with 'a good pheasant, some champagne and a woman'. That may be taking things a little too far. Ride hard, eat well and sleep deeply is our simple ethos. We believe you're entitled to a little luxury and some first-class food when you've spent all day on your bike, putting the hammer down in the Brecon Beacons. That's why our training weekends are based at the Gliffaes, a delightful country house hotel beside the River Usk with a reputation for excellent food. View the hotel website here. After the big ride, have a big soak; have a 'cool down massage' on us, from one of our professional sports masseurs; or just sit on the terrace above the River Usk. When you've got a drink in your hand, come and listen to an hour long seminar on how to successfully complete your major cyclosportive event, before we all sit down to a feast in the dining room.
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