2005 L'Etape du Tour Offers Opportunities to North Americans
The 13th annual L'Etape du Tour was announced in Paris on Thursday at the same ceremony as the 2005 Tour de France Route Announcement. L'Etape du Tour is a pro-am cycling event that takes place each year and gives recreational riders an opportunity to ride one of the stages of that year's Tour de France a few days before or after the pro peleton does.
This year the ride will take place on July 11, 2005, and cover Stage 16, a 177 kilometer (110 miles) ride from Mourenx to Pau, crossing the Col d'Ichere, Col de Marie-Blanque, Col d'Aubisque, and the Col du Soulor. The ride begins and ends effectively at sea level, but will involve climbing for over 32 km (20 miles) at an average gradient of 7 percent. The Col d'Aubisque is a hellish climb: a 16.5 km (10.25 mile) ascent at a 7 percent gradient to an altitude of 1,677 meters (5,500 feet). In other words, the peak of the Col d'Aubisque is higher than the elevation of Denver International Airport.
Even if you felt up to the challenge and could make the financial and logistical commitment to travel to France to participate, it was virtually impossible for people from North America to successfully register for L'Etape du Tour in previous years. This year, the Amaury Sports Organization has partnered with travel agencies that provide sports experience-related travel to open the ride to residents of the U.S., Canada, and other parts of Europe. The travel agents who are authorized to arrange L'Etape du Tour participation for North Americans include:
If you are interested in trying to paricipate, make sure you visit these companies' websites and get further details as soon as possible. Further information about L'Etape du Tour is on the official website, but that site is mostly written in French, not easy to work with using Google Language Tools.
