Etape du Tour 2013 Preview

On a chilly morning last week in Annecy our group set off to reccie the 2013 Etape du Tour course. Here's my thoughts.

So the Etape 2013. We are in for a very fast start for the initial 10km along the spectacular lake Annecy and you'll need to be at the front of your group to avoid any issues through the village of Saint Jorioz and onto the first climb as the road narrows. Nothing too tough on this first climb with a maximum gradient around 7 or 8% and with a brief respite in the middle, the summit is reached approx 21km's from Annecy.  Look to your right and you can see the back side of the Semnoz where you finish the Etape.




Its then onto a rolling section, predominantly descending for the next 20 km's. With long sweeping bends, there's nothing too technical however its likely that some of the roads will be re-surfaced before next July.

Onto the Col de Pres and again its a fairly steady climb maxing out around 8% before descending down to 63km out from Annecy and a nasty little kick up before the village of St Jean D'Arvey where its a right turn and straight onto the lower slopes of the Col de plain palais and a gentle climb until the left turn up to the Winter ski area of La Feclaz. The next 6kms are deceptive on the route plan and this is a pretty tough section with the Garmin advising 10 and 11% in places before you reach the car parking area for the ski lifts. After this point it flattens out before a final nasty kick before the summit and the descent towards Aix Les Bains. After another long, sweeping descent and a rolling section towards Cusy, we had to leave the final climb of the Semnoz for another day with the light fading.

So in summary, this years Etape, whilst not featuring any 'monument climbs', its set in a spectacular area of the Alps with views across to Mont Blanc, the waters of Lake Annecy and glimpses of the lake by Aix Les Bains. With 3200M of climbing and a distance of 125KMS, for the majority of entrants its set to be a long day on the bike, however its nothing like last years Act 1 to Modaine which I thought was tougher than the Marmotte. Logistics are made very easy for next year with the summit finish being approx 14km's from the start line.

Entries open 28th November and if you are successful in getting a place and want to maximise your chance of a good day in July we have an Etape reconnaissance weekend in May. 

Good luck!