{"id":190083,"date":"2022-07-14T15:21:11","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T15:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=190083"},"modified":"2022-07-14T15:23:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T15:23:53","slug":"2022-letape-du-tour-legendary-climbs-under-the-scorching-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2022\/07\/14\/2022-letape-du-tour-legendary-climbs-under-the-scorching-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 L\u2019\u00c9tape du Tour: Legendary Climbs Under the Scorching Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year marked the 30th<\/sup> edition of the world\u2019s most prestigious amateur road race, the L\u2019\u00c9tape du Tour<\/a>. July 10, 2022, saw four lucky winners of our Instagram draw stand at the starting line alongside other 16,000 cyclists eager to get a real taste of the Tour experience, as the pros battled the same route shortly thereafter. How does it feel to be a part of such a captivating cyclosportive tradition?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first-ever L’\u00c9tape du Tour took place in 1993, is now organized by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) in conjunction with V\u00e9lo Magazine<\/em>, and usually takes place on a Tour rest day in July. <\/em>To make things interesting (and gruelling), it\u2019s usually held over the infamous mountain roads of either the Pyrenees or the French Alps, on roads closed to traffic, and normally with approx. 15,000 participants from across the globe. It\u2019s worth mentioning that L’\u00c9tape also has many international offshoot events in countries such as the Czech Republic, Colombia, Australia, Brazil, and more.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s edition copied the route of stage 12 of the Tour de France from Brian\u00e7on to Alpe d’Huez, measuring 170 km with an elevation gain of 4,500 m. Circling back to the aforementioned mountain sections, the riders were faced with the legendary climbs up to Col du Galibier (Hors Cat\u00e9gorie), Col de la Croix de Fer (Hors Cat\u00e9gorie), and a final climb to Alpe d\u2019Huez (Hors Cat\u00e9gorie). Unfortunately for the participants, the French summer decided to bless the land with a full dose that day, which meant temperatures over 30\u00b0C since the morning.<\/p>\n

\"L'Etape\"<\/a>
\u0160koda team in action. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even though the L’\u00c9tape is supposed to bring the riders as close to the allure of the Tour as possible, many of them venture into it nearly self-supported or with family or friends acting as the assistance team. However, the We Love Cycling magazine and \u0160koda wanted to create an unforgettable experience for the lucky foursome who won the VIP hospitality race entry<\/a> by providing them with all the perks the pros get. Their care package included all flights, accommodation, professional service by Festka, on-site support, and having the \u0160koda team collect their racing number for them beforehand, so they could fully concentrate on their performance. The welcome goodies for each rider were designed to create a truly pro-team feel: matching \u0160koda cycling kits, Festka bidons and totes, Nutrend food packages, and, last but not least, WLC T-shirts as a souvenir.<\/p>\n

The determined four from Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, and Romania, three ladies and one gentleman, were led into battle by their team captains Ji\u0159\u00ed Je\u017eek and Cameron Jeffers who briefed them before the race, and gave them secret tips and tricks on how to survive and finish this no easy feat. Furthermore, Festka did thorough checks on everyone\u2019s bike before the start.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cf4y1GQqBd0\/?hl=cs<\/p>\n

Cameron Jeffers is currently covering the entire Tour de France<\/a> from the \u0160koda hospitality perspective, also set out for the L\u2019\u00c9tape alongside the team. After an impressive start, he managed to arrive at the first refreshment station (before the Col du Galibier<\/a> climb) in a group of the very first 30-50 riders but in a stroke of bad luck, his bike broke down. In the following series of unfortunate accidents, the nearest Shimano neutral support car run out of the needed spare parts and the next assistance station was 100 km away \u2013 which sadly meant the race was over for him.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s luckily where the ill fortune of the \u0160koda team ended \u2013 as all managed to cross the finish line of this year’s L’\u00c9tape du Tour! Namely, Olivia French from the UK finished first, followed by Teresa Vesely from Austria, Jozsef Reinitz from Romania and, lastly, Christine Bertram from Germany.<\/p>\n

The ultimate L\u2019\u00c9tape winner happened to be 33-year-old Stefan Kirchmair, finishing the race in incredible 5 hours and 17 minutes, managing to put a huge gap of approx. 6 minutes between him and second-place Loic Ruffaut. To compare, Cameron\u2019s later estimated that the pros will probably finish the same route at around 4:50\u20135 hours. That doesn\u2019t seem like such a difference but we have to factor in all the killer stages they already have in their legs.<\/p>\n

All in all, everyone on the \u0160koda team agreed that this was a limit-pushing but exhilarating experience as not many things can beat the rush of adrenaline and, honestly, pride when you finally throw yourself over the finish line after three \u201cbeyond categorisation\u201d climbs and 170 km of pure stamina.<\/p>\n

For more fresh Tour de France snippets, follow Cameron Jeffers on Instagram<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year marked the 30th edition of the world\u2019s most prestigious amateur road race, the L\u2019\u00c9tape du Tour. July 10, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":190085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[5778,847,413,410,6515,433],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-190083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-2022-tour","tag-festka","tag-letape","tag-letape-du-tour","tag-skoda-team","tag-tour-de-france","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\n2022 L\u2019\u00c9tape du Tour: Legendary Climbs Under the Scorching Sun<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This year marked the 30th edition of the world\u2019s most prestigious amateur road race, the L\u2019\u00c9tape du Tour. 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