Another one of these Gran Fondo’s on many cyclists’ bucket list: the (Lepape) Marmote Alpes. I am one of them and I’ve been considering riding it several times.
Like for the Maratona dles Dolomites, it’s almost impossible to get a ticket. You either need to win the lottery, or sign up for an all inclusive package, which will bring you more, but set you back (up to) thousands of Euros.
So, when we had our Tour de France 2021 base camp along the route, I decided it was now or never, as it was earlier in the year (August) then back in 2017, when we were located in Briançon.
While that offered a similar alternative as to what I did this year, the days were just too short (and cold).
I eventually completed my Marmotte Alpes during stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France, albeit I started and ended at my doorstep, in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
Yes, that means I didn’t finish on the Alpe d’Huez, but ascended and descended it and concluded my version with the Glandon.
It did add to the total distance, though, but – as mentioned in the report – I suppose most participants will have to descend the Alpe too after their finish.
Then again, as I descended towards Villard-Reculas, my descend wasn’t a total freebie, as you get to cross the “Pas de la Confession” – together with the short uphill sprint into Villard-Reculas, it adds about 100 alimeters to the ride.
Which more than makes up for the lost altimeters not having to climb up the Allemond dam 😎
Other than in my report, you can find all info on the official Marmotte Alpes pages.
PS. I’ve uploaded my (Strava) GPX for this course, as the export from OpenRunner looks like shit once imported into my OSM plugin, while on screen it looks just fine.
