Often, it’s a statement of some personal intent, or allegiance to a cause greater than that represented by the single rider wearing it: loyalty to a team, a nation, or, in the case of the increasingly popular trend for retro jerseys, an era.

Simon Mottram is a man with a cause, and, as the founder and CEO of clothing brand, Rapha, well placed to create a jersey (and gilet) to champion it. Oscar, Mottram’s eldest son, is autistic, and his father will be tackling the route of the legendary Bordeaux-Paris classic to raise funds for Ambitious about Autism.

He will not be alone. Mottram’s ambition for the charity seemingly matches its title. His will be one of 25 teams bidding to raise a combined £250,000 by following the grueling 600km parcours from south-west France to the capital, via Angoulème, Chatellerault, and Orleans. Entry costs a cool £3,900 per team, or £975 per person, each of whom must raise £2,500 for the charity.

This year offers two additional reasons to tackle the ride. 2013 represents 25 years since this so-called ‘lost Classic’ was last raced, and 50 years since it was won by Tom Simpson. The ‘Derby of the Road’ was raced through night and day, an ordeal for the riders, and one by which a career might be defined: the winners list is littered with multiple victors, topped by the Belgian, Herman Van Springel, who won seven times between 1970 and 1981.

Simpson’s victory was one of two recorded by British riders. The first came in the inaugural edition, won by George Pilkington-Mills in a style that astonished the organisers, who hadn’t countenanced the possibility that riders might complete the route in a single ride.

Pilkington-Mills had set the tone for the race, and while future editions involved varying methods of motor pacing, behind motorbikes, Dernys, and even cars, the ethos of a single day’s racing, despite the arduous distance, remained.

Riders considering joining Mottram’s fund-raising ride must also complete the distance within 24-hours, but the challenge will be less onerous. Riding duties will be shared out between teams of four, whose members will ride in relay, and each of whom must complete a minimum of four segments. Teams will be free to define their own tactics within this stipulation.

Rapha’s Bordeaux-Paris jersey represents a cause close to the heart of founder, Simon Mottram

And the jersey? Sold out already in all sizes except small and extra small, so if you’re of a build to rival Contador and Rodriguez, your luck is in.

There is another way to get your hands on the garment, and its accompanying gilet – both are complimentary with entry to the ride, which will take place from September 12 to 15, 2013. Places are still available.

To register for the Rapha Bordeaux-Paris 2013 Challenge, click here.

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Rapha

My long weekend of riding there included three days covering a total of 290km, and took in some of the terrain made famous by the race. These unmade white gravel roads have formed the route for the relatively new spring classic of the same name, won this year by Team Cannondale’s Moreno Moser and twice by Cancellara since its appearance on the UCI calendar in 2007. Adding its own gritty classics flavour with tough terrain and challenging surfaces this Italian ‘Roubaix’ covers 188 km and finishes in the spectacular and historic piazza del campo in Siena.

At the opposite bookend of the season the same roads host the classic ‘L’Eroica’ ride that has been running in October since 1997.  Starting and finishing in the commune of Gaiole in Chianti, this amateur race is a festival that celebrates traditional bicycles, and retro enthusiasts take to the roads on their vintage bikes and in vintage dress to enjoy a celebratory day out in the Tuscan countryside.

Author, Jo McRae, samples Tuscany’s strade bianche

Our own base camp for the three-night stay was the spectacular four star Hotel Relais Vignale in Radda in Chianti. It was a bit of a drive from the airport in Pisa, the rooms and views were well worth the wait and the glorious sunshine that greeted us was very welcome after what had been fairly miserable and cold conditions for April back home. Luxurious is the only way to describe the ‘rooms’ which consisted of bedroom, lounge, bathroom (with Jacuzzi bath) and balcony. Frankly, all together this ‘room’ was bigger than my flat at home and building up my bike as I looked over Tuscan vineyards in beautiful sunshine was really no chore. As our small group gathered from airport transfers, we enjoyed a glass or two of Chianti over dinner and the scene was set for a few spectacular days of cycling.

Tuscany is described as rolling, but from a cycling perspective I would call this a conservative description. These hills are not UK ‘rolling’ but include plenty of 6-10km climbs with decent enough gradients. Our first day of riding went straight up hill from the hotel and didn’t start going down for quite some time. That morning we took in a 7.5km climb from Mercatale Valdarno to Monti di Vielle on smooth tarmac with spectacular views. These rhythmical Tuscan climbs have a great European flavour without being as epic as the Alps or Pyrenees, and for me to be comfortable they definitely needed the compact gearing I had taken on this trip with me.

After a light lunch stop in Pianella we began to head back to Radda via our first taste of the Strade Bianche roads. On such a bright day the white gravel really reflected back at us as we steadily munched our way along its surface. It took a while to adjust to the uncertain feel beneath the tyres with concealed sloping edges that occasionally sent you slipping to the gutter if you strayed too close to the edge. The tight cambered corners have ridges embedded into their surface too, from the weight of heavy farm vehicles, which force you to ride wide rather than loose speed and rhythm on the bumpy inside line. Without being ‘off-road’ these routes are certainly more lively and interesting than your more mainstream riding experience, giving you an insight into the fitness, skill and grit needed to be a good classics rider. Forcing you to relax your body, and use your arms for natural suspension, you learn to apply power with a smooth pedalling action and absorb and assimilate any changes in the surface without overreacting or disrupting your tempo.

Tuscany isn’t short of beautiful places to ride

Heading back towards Gaiole our last stretch of Strade for the day was a fairly gnarly descent with constantly changing surfaces and some notable pot holes which certainly kept the brain and body busy and persuaded me several times not to use my brakes if I wanted to avoid skidding.  The adrenalin rush of having to trust in your skills and let go was a real treat, and after a quick stop in Gaiole to admire the Eroica shop the tarmac led our happy legs back to the hotel to end a very satisfying and engaging first days riding. A trip out of Radda to nearby Castellina in Chianti for a true Italian Pizzeria experience made for more entertainment that evening, and the kind of bonding you only get over bike riding.

The main riding day on Saturday was to take in a 140km loop including 60km on the Strada and many longer sections including one of 12km.  The weather on this second day was more overcast and as we set off the grey cloud cover added to the slightly pensive mood brought about by our increased awareness of what we were letting ourselves in for. The skies brightened as we started on our first section of white road which afforded spectacular views across the very green hills around Siena. Vineyards, Cyprus trees and hill top villas were regular features of the surrounding countryside and provided a welcome distraction from the relentless pounding of the gravel.

The sheer time spent on the Strade this second day meant that you had to kind of make friends with it, relaxing your hands on the tops of the bars as much as possible and carefully picking a smooth line through the rough stuff. Our lunch stop was less than half way round and a steady but determined mind set was needed to set off positively on the most challenging middle section of our day.

Not only was the gravel surface tiring but as we pedalled into the afternoon we began to encounter some really significant hills on the unmade roads. Steep enough to force you to work hard even in your smallest gear; on many sections standing out of the saddle was not an option, making for some determined power climbing. One or two steep sections of descent were pretty challenging on a road bike too, and these punchy climbs interspersed with relentless ‘rolling’ tarmac made for some pretty tired legs at our last stop of the day back at Pianella.

If you need a break from riding, Tuscany has some beautiful places to stop

The final stretch of the day’s ride was about sheer determination. We knew the first part of the route from the previous day, but there was more Strade to get through and a final killer climb back up to the hotel in Radda. On such challenging terrain, it is fascinating what fatigue can do to your skill set. For the first time that day my back wheel slid away from me as I hit an edge, alerting me to the level of concentration I needed for these last few kilometres.

Riding at the back of the group with another rider, we inched our way home in relative silence, with just the reassuring crunch of the gravel and the occasional bit of encouragement shared. After what seemed like the longest ever 4km final climb back into Radda there was an immense sense of achievement of what we had achieved that day. Six plus hours in the saddle, 140km in total, and 60km of Strade. It certainly felt pretty heroic.

The final day’s riding was all on smooth roads, which came as a welcome relief to everyone. Without a lot left in the legs, we cruised at a casual pace into Siena to the piazza del campo, the venue for the finish of the Strade Bianche classic, and a focal point for Italian cool with fashion houses lining the narrow streets and stylish coffee shops surrounding the piazza. Sitting in the piazza as the sun began to burn through the morning cloud we had a few moments to absorb the historic gothic architecture and the truly spectacular arena created by the piazza – a fitting venue for the finish a classic race. This taste of culture was an added bonus to round off a great trip, which certainly surprised me in what it had to offer, on roads that I would not have had a chance to ride without the right support.

I would highly recommend Tuscany for its road riding, both tarmac and gravel, if you are looking for an Italian trip with a classics flavour and some spectacular scenery.

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The author travelled as a guest of cycling tour operator, RPM90.

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Both routes are relatively flat

The sportive, which is new for 2013,  will offer 65 and 100-mile routes through the lanes and villages east of Cambridge.

Both routes start from the Lancaster Toyota showrooms in Cambridge, who are sponsoring the event, and will head out in an anti-clockwise direction through Linton and Saffron Walden to the first feed station.

The 65-mile course then takes in Balsham and Wickhambrook before returning to Cambridge, while the 100-mile option goes on to Mildenhall via Kedington and Stradishall, with another feed stop before making its way back to the finish.

Both courses are relatively flat but have several short, sharp climbs, however the biggest challenge of the day is likely to be the wind, which will either make for a fast ride or a tough day out.

Both routes will be fully signposted, timed, and will have well-stocked feed stations and mechanical back en-route as well as the start/finish courtesy of Ben Hayward Cycles. Free tea and coffee will be available before the start as well as a snack after for all finishers. A family ride will also take place, starting at 11am and taking in an course of between eight and ten miles.

Entry costs £25 for both the 65 and 100-mile routes. Enter online at www.wheelsinwheels.com

Cape Rouleur was first run earlier this year and will return in 2014 on March 2-6. The event is part of the Global Event Series organised by HotChillee, the team behind London to Paris and the Alpine Challenge, who say Cape Rouleur brings riders “as close to the experience of one of the Grand Tours as it’s possible to get.”

Stephen Roche sets the pace at the front of the peloton at the inaugural Cape Rouleur

The Cape Rouleur is limited to 200 riders and starts with a 7.6km prologue which organises the riders into four seeded speed groups. Three road stages follow, covering 128km, 146km and 208km respectively through stunning South African scenery.

HotChillee say most riders then choose to stay and ride the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, the largest timed cycling event in the world. The 2014 edition of Cape Argus will take place on Sunday March 9 and will follow a 109km route.

Cape Rouleur riders, meanwhile, will enjoy rolling road closures, motorbike outriders, support vehicles and the ability to compete for a number of titles, including the yellow, green and red jerseys. The event attracts a number of star guest riders and participants in 2013 included 1987 Triple Crown winner Stephen Roche and 1988 world road race champion Maurizio Fondriest.

HotChillee founder Sven Thiele said: “The Cape Rouleur happens in March to provide our cyclists the opportunity to get a full week of cycling in one of the most scenic areas. It is a sanctuary for cyclists and our event provides a great mix of competitiveness and socialising in the early season calendar, allowing legs to be tested, but also some downtime in the South African sunshine.

“There’s a great atmosphere in the riders’ village. The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour is one of the most famous timed cycling events in the world, so is a great end to the full week.”

Visit www.caperouleur.com for more information.

Nutrition starts now. While it is vital to eat and drink properly on the day of the ride, big gains can be made by developing your food and fluid intake in the run-up to the event.

I’ll be on the Etape start line with thousands of other sportive riders on Sunday July 7 so, with two months to go, I caught up with Tim Lawson, sports nutritionist and founder of Science in Sport. Here are Tim’s top six tips on how to nail nutrition ahead of the Etape. Over to you, Tim.

Tim Lawson founded SiS in 1992

Weight

“Getting your nutrition strategy right takes preparation and you have to work out in advance what works for you – but not on every ride. For a lot of people, the biggest gains that will be made between now and July are in reducing body mass.

That means you can’t be carbing up before every single ride. That’s one of the biggest mistakes that I see amateurs make. They think that because they’re a cyclist, they need to pack their body full of carbohydrate, but it’s difficult to shift that amount of carbs on every ride, particularly if you’re sitting in an office all day. The way to view carbs is as a fuel for hard training, if you are not going to be training hard or long then it’s better to concentrate on lower calorie nutritionally dense foods.

However, it’s always useful to test out your nutrition strategy, perhaps once a week, because if you’re going to race on carbohydrate then you need to keep that machinery working. You need to teach your body how to use the carbs once they’re in there, but it’s a careful balance of doing that without bulking up.

SiS is official sports nutrition supplier to Astana, Blanco Pro Cycling, Katusha, Rapha Condor JLT and Madison-Genesis (Credit: SiS)

Cut down on alcohol

Beer is the real killer when it comes to body weight. Thirteen pints of beer is the equivalent of one pound of fat. You don’t have to drink them all in one night but you could easily put 13 pints down in one week and not account for the calories.

I’m not advocating that you should stop drinking beer, but for every 13 pints you don’t drink between now and the Etape, you’ll be a pound lighter.

For every 26 pints of beer you miss between now and the Etape,  you’ll be approximately one kilogram lighter – and you’ll feel that when you’re climbing.

If you cut out the odd pint – a couple a week – between now and July then that’s an easy way to drop your weight by a kilogram or two, and then, one or two weeks before the event, stop drinking altogether.

Survival kit

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking about what they eat at home and during the ride, but will then go to an overseas sportive without the proper nutrition for before the ride. If you’ve got a long drive to get to a sportive, or you’re staying in a hotel beforehand, you may not have the appropriate food available. So, first things first, make sure you’ve got a survival kit.

Take something small and convenient that travels well so you can get your 200g of carbohydrate the night before and the same again for breakfast on the day of the ride. Sometimes a hotel might promise to look after you but then they’ll give you a croissant and a cup of coffee for breakfast and think they’ve done a great job if you’re off to ride 100 miles in the mountains.

Something that works well if you’re staying in a hotel is fine cut oats with a sachet of high carbohydrate and high protein recovery powder, and some hot water.

Rice cakes, oat cakes and tinned fish also travel well. Alternatively, if you’re able to eat fairly normally you can then top it up with a carbohydrate drink as the amount of carbohydrate is measurable and it’s not going to sit on your stomach like a kilogram of potatoes.

The key is to plan ahead for the evening before the ride and breakfast so you don’t have to eat the supplies you put aside for the ride itself – and so you’re not eating a chicken vindaloo the night before because that’s all that was available.

Aim to consume 60-80g of carbohydrate per hour (Credit: SiS)

Race-day nutrition

You’re looking to achieve that sweet spot of approximately 60-80g of carbohydrate per hour and you’re going to get that from a mixture of bars, gels and energy drink. Make sure you include everything in that total – including the baguette you couldn’t resist at the feed station or the banana you had in your back pocket.

Remember, that the closer you are to your limit the more you will benefit from the technical products. You tend not to see the pros eating baguettes on the important climb of the day, and when you do they tend to be very small and only to break up the monotony of ‘race food’ when you are racing a good portion of the year.

Think about how you can adapt your nutrition strategy to suit the Etape.

Look at the course profile, work out where the feed stations will be and tweak your nutrition strategy based on that. Take an energy gel early on a long climb, recover with an energy bar on the descent.

Pace yourself. The idea is to finish well, so don’t race out of the blocks, keep it very steady on the opening climbs and keep fuelling. Riding above threshold will quickly eat into carbohydrate stores.

Hydration

The aim is to drink between 400ml and 600ml per hour, although European sportives can often be very hot in the middle of the summer so it is likely you will need to drink more. Thirst will tell you if you need to drink more and prepare to be flexible depending on the weather.
Take two 750ml bottles and fill up whenever you get the chance. Carbohydrate depletion and dehydration are two of the major causes of fatigue on a big ride but both can be overcome by using carbohydrate formulas and electrolyte tablets.
You will lose a lot of minerals through sweating. You can replenish them by adding a tablet to your water bottle containing key electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride and calcium.

Try to drink between 400ml and 600ml per hour, although warm weather may mean you have to take on more fluid

Recovery

Any kind of training ride that’s likely to cause an adaptation in your body means it’s worth thinking about post-ride nutrition. You need protein to take care of muscle repair, carbohydrate for refuelling, and the combination of both works to protect your immune system. Training is the stimulus but not much happens until you put the nutrition in. Your body needs the nutrition to adapt and make it stronger. Unless you’re body has the nutrition to feed off, not a lot happens, and you can cover those bases with a recovery drink.

As for post-event recovery, once you’ve crossed the finish line it goes without saying that you should use a really good recovery drink. The sooner you take it, the better. Water alone isn’t enough for rehydration, you need to have the salts in there from an electrolyte table, otherwise the water will go straight through you and that’s not the best way for your muscles to recover.

You could cover all that with real food but actually it’s better to take your recovery drink, get every base covered, and then have a pint to celebrate, in my opinion. Get your recovery drink in before you start celebrating, though, because there are no electrolytes in beer.”

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Tim Lawson founded Science in Sport in 1992. SiS is official sports nutrition supplier to Astana, Blanco Pro Cycling, Katusha, Rapha Condor JLT and Madison-Genesis.

The Welshman lifted the lid on the 88-mile, closed-road route, which starts and finishes at Bangor-on-Dee racecourse on Sunday September 8, 2013.

Thomas, who has ridden many of the route’s key features, including the challenging Horseshoe Pass, is a regular visitor to the area, where his girlfriend lives. Read our interview with Thomas here.

Double Olympic gold medalist, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), ambassador to the Etape Cyrmu. Pic: Matthew Alexander

“It’s a challenging route, but it’s a great chance to get out and enjoy the roads,” he said of the Etape Cymru parcours.

“It’s not every day the roads are closed off and members of the public get to ride on them; as [professional] cyclists, we take it for granted.”

Thomas, who won a second gold medal at London 2012 after becoming an Olympic champion for the first time four years earlier in Beijing, advised Etape Cymru participants to enjoy the Welsh rarebit due to be served at the route’s six feed zones.

“A bit of Welsh rarebit always goes down nicely so make the most of that,” he said.

Riders will head north from the Bangor-on-Dee racecourse through rolling landscape to Rhosllanerchrugog.

A climb to the Panorama Walk of Barmouth will offer the riders views of the Vale of LLangollen, and, to the west, an early glimpse of the feature considered the toughest of the entire route: the Horseshoe Pass.

The 6.1km climb, one that includes 317 metres of climbing at gradients reaching 20 per cent, will be timed this year for the first time.

“Make sure you study the route and know what is coming up,” Thomas adivsed. “Also take your time on the tough climbs so you have enough energy to get you to the top.”

The route of the 2013 Wiggle Etape Cymru. ©Human Race

A descent from Panorama Walk takes the riders in the direction of Carog – the furthest point from the finish line. A gentle, 10-mile climb leads to the next descent, one that leads the riders to Craig Fechen and the most northerly part of the route.

“At this point it’s important not to try and match the pace of other riders,” said Thomas. “It can be tempting to do this but be careful not to run out of gas with a few miles to go.”

The ascent of The Shelf, the second steepest climb on the route after the Horseshoe Pass, follows. Riders will ascend almost 700 feet in four miles of climbing.

The last of the route’s major climbs, the Worlds End, is approached on a lumpy road from Minera, and takes riders to the highest point of the parcours at 1,410 feet.

A sharp descent will lead them back onto Panorama Walk, a treat for those who enjoyed the views on the outbound route, and to a second drop, this time of some 850-feet, pointing them back towards Bangor.

The ride is backed by online retailer Wiggle, and will raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, and for Nightingale House, a free hospice, serving a wide area from Wrexham, Flintshire and East Denbighshire to Barmouth and the border towns including Oswestry and Whitchurch.

Finishers will receive coconut water from Vita Coco.

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Website: Etape Cymru

The Lotto-Belisol squad of Andre Greipel and Jurgen Van Den Broeck looks set to play a key role in this year’s Tour de France.

Greipel picked up three stage wins last year, and his blistering early-season form leaves him well-placed to complete the hat-trick. The German is, in the eyes of many, the only serious rival to Mark Cavendish on a flat run-in.

Jurgen Van Den Broeck, fourth overall in last year’s Grande Boucle, is targeting the podium this year, sensing the opportunity provided by the brutally hard centenary edition to a rider of his climbing abilities.

We headed to Lotto-Belisol’s service course recently to take a look at the logistical hub on which both men, and their team-mates, will depend.

For a colour feature packed with observations on life at the service course, click here. Here’s a pictorial insight into the behind the scenes activities of one of the world’s best cycling teams, presented in our full-screen gallery.

RoadCyclingUK travelled as a guest of Ridley Bikes, supplier to the Lotto-Belisol UCI WorldTour squad.

The logistical centres of professional cycling teams, warehouse-like buildings that contain everything from trucks and team cars to hundreds of bikes, still greater numbers of wheels, and even the kit worn by the riders, are necessarily anonymous structures, and Lotto-Belisol’s is no different, identical from the outside to any of the surrounding units on a non-descript industrial estate in Belgium, about an hour from the Dutch border.

Such facilities are not intended to draw attention; indeed, it is in their interest not to do so, given the value and desirability of the kit within.

A Ridley Dean TT bike awaits completion at the Lotto-Belisol service course

Sheltering inside like some giant beast motionlessly awaiting the passing of the weather, one of the team’s service trucks stands silently in the semi-darkness, unloaded and awaiting the cycle of preparation that will foreshadow its deployment to the next of the historic races on the WorldTour calendar, that make up the greatest challenges in professional cycling.

Its brightly-lit interior, one of rubberized flooring and metallic wall panels, is immaculate. A work bench near the rear door is empty, save for a permanently attached vice with a wheel jig gripped in its jaws. Two retractable airlines, one mounted above the workbench, another in the opposite corner at the furthest end of the truck, are neatly stowed in blue plastic cases.

Andre Greipel’s Ridley Noah Fast, its head tube bearing the image of a roaring gorilla that has become his calling card, is rested against the truck with little ceremony. The contrast between the two could not be greater: function vs. form, plodding purpose vs. pure speed. Wheeling the bike across the warehouse floor into stronger light is a slightly surreal moment: this is Andre Greipel’s machine after all, in all probability the one that crossed the line first on three occasions at the Tour Down Under, and likely to do the same in the Tour de France.

The Ridley Fenix machines raced over the cobbles of Flanders and northern France, are racked sans wheels, in another area of the service course. A list of the infamous cobbled secteurs of Roubaix is visible on the top tube of some of them, the most brutal of all highlighted in green: the Trouée d’Arenberg,  Mons-en-Pévèle, and the Carrefour de l’Arbre. Some are paired with a separate frame swathed in bubble wrap, the Ridley Helium SL, bearing an instruction to transfer the equipment to the super lightweight chassis used for climbing duties. It’s possible to read the change in the cycling season from the task awaiting the mechanics.

One of the Lotto-Belisol team’s Iveco service trucks, awaiting its cargo for the next race on cycling’s elite WorldTour calendar

Their eight workstations are empty today, those who work there deployed at the Tour of the Basque Country or enjoying rare respite between the Flemish and Ardennes Classics. A Ridley Dean time trial bike is mounted in the work stand of mechanic Chris Van Roosbroeck, mid-way through what appears to be a complete rebuild, sans drivetrain, and with a nest of electric cables partially threaded through its TT bars. Van Roosbroeck has enjoyed no downtime between Roubaix and Amstel Gold, instead leaving the cobbles of northern France for the heat of Corsica to recce the opening stages of this year’s Tour de France with Lotto-Belisol’s GC contender, Jurgen Van Den Broeck.

On his bench is a chart, neatly printed with the sizing requirements and preferred equipment of each Lotto-Belisol rider. Tosh van der Sande, for example, the 22-year-old who made his Ronde van Vlaanderen debut this year, rides a frame in size small, with his saddle height set at 74cm, and steers with a 42cm Deda Newton Shallow bar. Other details are obscured by Van Roosbroeck’s identity card for Paris-Roubaix, the red lanyard wound neatly around the yellow pass.

Elsewhere, the riders’ helmets and ‘wet bags’ – supplies of spare clothing and items such as shoe covers, designed to keep out the weather – are neatly racked on a shelves marked with the owner’s name: Greipel, Van Den Broeck, Henderson, et al. Such sights provide a slightly uncomfortable intimacy. These are not replica items, fan merchandise whose only connection with the rider is a reproduced signature, but the equipment the riders will wear in cycling’s biggest races. The chromed dome of Greipel’s Lazer Helium FAST lies within touching distance, though, from respect, your correspondent chooses not to touch.

Considered only in terms of bald statistics, the service course is still an impressive facility  It is home to the machines of Lotto-Belisol’s 28-strong rider line-up, each of whom is given a minium of four bikes, including a Ridley Dean time trial bike and a choice of the Belgian brand’s Noah Fast aero bike, the ultra light Helium SL climbing bike, and the Fenix bike intended for the Classics. The frames of many decorate the walls of the service course, stripped of their wheels, and ready to accept any of the 150 sets of competition wheels placed at Lotto-Belisol’s disposal by sponsor, Campagnolo (the Shamal, Bora, or Hyperon), or the Eurus or Zonda hoops reserved for training.

The infamous cobbled secteurs of Paris-Roubaix are still displayed on the top tube of this Ridley Fenix

If watching a rider dispose of an empty bidon has ever prompted you to wonder how many water bottles a team makes its way through each year, the number in Lotto-Belisol’s case is between 20,000 and 25,000.

The day following our visit marks the eve of the Amstel Gold Race, and it’s likely that the service course will witness greater activity than our visit, where we are invited to wander at will, to examine and photograph any aspect of the service course, a further indication of professional cycling’s willingness to accommodate its supporters, even at the sport’s highest level.

RoadCyclingUK travelled as a guest of Ridley Bikes, supplier to the Lotto-Belisol UCI WorldTour squad. 

So how hard is the route? That’s the question on the lips of every rider training to tackle this year’s Etape. Chris Barrow, a cyclist, ski instructor and owner of the Chalet La Charme in the French Alps set off to find out.

This year’s Etape du Tour takes place in little over two months time, on Sunday July 7, and follows a broad loop on a tour of the less well known Massif des Bauges, south of Annecy.

And because the route doesn’t tackle any “famous” climbs and cols, cycling purists have denigrated the event to a “why bother” route, or a Sunday afternoon leg stretcher after doing Saturday’s altogether tougher La Marmotte. The Etape is only 130km, how hard can it be? I set off to find out.

The 2013 Etape du Tour route follows a broad loop, starting in Annecy and finishing high above the town on the climb of Le Semnoz

Departing Annecy town centre at 10am, I followed the excellent cycle path along the shores of the stunning Lake Annecy, until arriving at the small lakeside town of St-Jorioz. The actual event will take place on the main road, a flat 7.5km run, before turning south at St-Jorioz and hitting the first climb.

The Côte de Puget is 5.4km at an average gradient of 5.8 per cent. It’s not too long, and never too steep, and can be tackled in relative comfort by reasonably fit cyclists. UK cyclists with no alpine training would be advised to take this first climb gently – there’s a long way to go!

A short descent to le Cruet is followed by the second climb. On the official Etape website, this is listed as the climb to the Col de Leschaux, 3.6km at 6.2 per cent. This is slightly misleading. The climb begins at le Cruet, climbs through the hamlet of St-Eustache and ends in La Chapelle-St-Maurice. Again, it’s not a tough climb by any stretch, it reminded me of Normandy, with its rolling hills through the green countryside. Unlike Normandy, rock walls tower above to the left, and on the right is the Semnoz, to be climbed much later from the other side. After La Chapelle-St-Maurice, the route descends quickly to the Col de Leschaux.

Fast and flat is how I would describe the few kilometres from the Col de Leschaux to Bellecombe-en-Bauges. Following Bellecombe, a short, punchy climb finds us in La Motte-en-Bauges, and a few kilometres later comes a very short climb through the centre of Le Châtelard.

Descending out of Le Châtelard, the route takes a right turn over the river, and hits the six kilometre climb to Aillons-le-Vieux. At an average of four per cent, it’s steady but not that hard. It’s important to keep taking fluids and fuel at this stage, and to keep energy for the second half of the route. A short descent into Aillons-le-Jeune, and the first of the three hardest climbs arrives. The Col du Prés, 3.5km at 6.5 per cent is, on paper, quite straightforward. However, the heat of a July day, coupled with a headwind, will quite possibly make the climb feel a whole lot harder. The descent from the Col du Prés is fast and technical, passing through Thoiry, with views of Chambery down below. Another short, punchy climb is encountered after crossing the River Leysse on the way up to St-Jean-d’Arvey.

The final climb averages more than eight per cent – but the view from the top is worth it (Picture: Chris Barrow)

This marks the halfway point of the route, with ‘only’ the two main climbs to come. The first of which, the 16km climb to Mont Revard is long, but not steep by alpine standards. At a gradient of 5.4 per cent, it’s important to get the right cadence and rhythm, and not to expend too much energy. In many places, the gradient eases off to almost nothing, so there’s plenty of opportunity to rest, eat and drink.

A long descent follows, then a sharp turn right before Trévignin, and along flowing country lanes through the hamlets of Montcel, St-Offenge and Cusy. After a very short climb out of Cusy, the route forks left and drops down into the gorge, crossing the Pont de l’Abime.

This is a stunning bridge over the Chéran gorge, and is immediately followed by (another) short, punchy ramp into Gruffy. Onwards to Viuz-la-Chiésaz, where there is another short climb up to Quintal. By this stage, you will have covered almost 120km – and the climb to the Semnoz is the last obstacle.

An 11km climb at an average gradient of 8.3 per cent, and after 120km of cycling, this is (in my opinion) a tough climb. Straight out of Quintal, it’s steep and unrelenting, through green forests and white limestone. I can see why it reminds the organisers of Mont Ventoux. After about three kilometres, it eases ever so slightly, just before the junction with the D41 coming up from Annecy. Take a right here and just keep spinning. It’s another seven kilometres or so at a fairly consistently steep gradient. If the sun’s shining, which it was during my ride, it’s hard work. In July, it may be unbearable.

But if you make it to Semnoz, be proud of your achievement, and dismiss the killjoys who relegate this event to just another club ride. For sure, this Etape doesn’t have the high altitude alpine cols or summits. Nor does it have the massive distances of some if its previous incarnates. But with about of 3,500m of climbing, it’s definitely not a walk in the park, and my feeling is that some of the more dismissive riders might be in for a shock.

Chalet La Charme is a five-bedroom chalet in St Gervais Le Bains, one hour from Annecy, offering summer and winter accommodation in the French Alps. Visit www.chaletlacharme.wordpress.com for more information.

RoadCyclingUK’s George Scott will ride the Etape du Tour with Sports Tours International, who offer a comprehensive range of cycling tours and holidays.

The genial Belgian, trusted mechanic of Armstrong, Abdujaparov and Azevedo, to name only the As, has prepared the bikes of riders competing at professional cycling’s elite level for an impressive 25 seasons, at Superconfex, Rabobank, US Postal and Astana, to name only a few, and for the last two years has plied his trade with Lotto-Belisol.

You get the feeling van Roosbroeck has seen it all in that time, though there is nothing of the braggart in his personable demeanour. Instead, reflections on some of cycling’s most intriguing races and characters emerge in matter of fact answers. Does the adrenaline flow at Paris-Roubaix for the seasoned mechanic? Always. What was Armstrong like? Nice. How did his rivalry with Contador unfold at Astana? The Spaniard was intimidated, unnecessarily. And so it continues.

Lotto-Belisol mechanic, Chris van Roosbroeck, sets the saddle height for Jelle Vanendert

The unseasonal warmth of an unexpectedly glorious spring day is slowly cooling as van Roosbroeck jokes with Jelle Vanendert, second in the 2012 Amstel Gold Race, and the man who will lead Lotto-Belisol in this year’s edition the following day, as they set his saddle height (82.6cm, since you ask). The Belgian, who won brilliantly at Plateau de Beille in the 2011 Tour, has been using the perch on his training bike and insists on measuring its altitude now van Roosbroeck has returned it to the machine on which he will compete. It’s a jovial scene played out in waning but still beautiful sunlight on a lazy Saturday afternoon and marks a moment of perfect calm before the impending storm of the opening race of Ardennes Week, a hugely significant period for the Belgian team.

Our conversation begins as Vanendert drifts back inside the hotel behind the giant Lotto-Belisol truck from which van Roosbroeck works, while he makes final preparations to the fleet of Ridley Helium SL machines on which his riders will compete the following day. He screws a race number to each and racks them neatly beside the truck. This must be far from his first interview, and he has twice politely sent me away as he works to complete his preparations, on the first occasion with Vanendert’s machine to photograph: a not inconsiderable consolation. A bike, how ever idiosyncratic its set up, can only tell so much. The mechanic will say much more.

Van Roosbroeck has cycling in his blood. His father, Stef van Roosbroeck, rode professionally, on one occasion as partner to the late Gary Wiggins at the Six Days of Antwerp. The young Chris would attend his father’s races with his mother, and, perhaps more significantly, his uncle, mechanic to the great Raymond Poulidor, who finished on the podium of the Tour de France on eight occassions without winning the race. The teenaged Chris paid attention to his uncle’s teachings, learned his trade, travelled with him to races from the age of 15, and three years later joined him on a full-time basis. The pair worked together in professional cycling’s top tier for 11 years. The nephew’s pride as he recounts the story is evident.

The names that litter his CV will be instantly familiar to those who have followed professional cycling for the last 20 years. Supeconfex, Buckler, WordPerfect, Rabobank, US Postal, Discovery, Astana, and now Lotto-Belisol. “I started with Buckler in 1990,” he recalls. “I did a couple of years part-time before that with Superconfex with Van Poppel. So Superconfex, Buckler, then the name changed to WordPerfect, then we changed into Rabobank. Then in 2000, I moved to Domo Farm Frites, and then I moved to US Postal, Discovery Channel, Astana, and Lotto, but it’s basically four teams, with a lot of times the same manager, but a different sponsor.”

Van Roosbroeck is one of eight mechanics responsible for Lotto-Belisol’s fleet of Ridley racing bikes

The importance of the spring Classics to Belgian teams cannot be overstated. Jurgen Roelandt’s podium finish at the Ronde van Vlaanderen provided some consolation for an otherwise barren campaign in the cobbled races for Lotto-Belisol, but Ardennes Week, offers fresh hope. The hills of Limburg, particularly, hold a significance for Lotto-Belisol, headquartered an hour away in Herentals, and represent home turf for the Neerpelt-born Vanendert.

For the mechanics, the demands presented by the cobbles of Flanders and Roubaix differ wildly from those made by the hilly Ardennes. The latter are easier for the mechanics. “You still work half a day full gas, but it’s not so bad. The Flemish Classics, there’s a lot more preparation – it’s a big difference,” says van Roosbroeck” Each rider will use the same gearing at Amstel Gold, and there is a greater uniformity in tyre choice. The teams use much the same set up as they do for the stage races. The truck behind us arrived from the Tour of the Basque Country. Van Roosbroeck, however, did not spend early April in Spain, but in Belgium and northern France.

“Its always special,” van Roosbroeck says of Roubaix. The first wave of adrenaline crashes over the team car 10km from the opening cobbled sector. “You did the recon in the winter with the guys and you know how hard they work for it. It can all be gone in a split second.” Roelandts was one of a host of top riders to suffer mechanical misfortune at Roubaix, puncturing twice within the same 10km stretch as Chavanel and Van Summeren, 50km from home. It is not always this way. Van Roosbroeck recalls two consecutive years with Rabobank in the late nineties when all eight riders finished without punctures. “You never forget that.” This year was different: eight punctures, some as the result of crashes, others from potholes – the unavoidable hazards of racing on cobbles.

The desire of Belgian riders like Lotto-Belisol’s Jurgen Roelandts to succeed in the Classics is easy to understand, says van Roosbroeck

“The Classics is a lot here, you know,” van Roosbroeck says, tapping the side of his head. “It’s a lot in the mind. You need the will to do it.” He offers Juan Antonio Flecha as an example, a Spaniard who has made a specialism of the cobbles. “He’s good because he likes it so much.” The desire of riders like Roelandts and Vanendert, for whom the cobbles of Flanders and the hills of Limburg are still home roads, is easier to understand. “He’s crazy about these races,” van Roosbroeck says of Vanendert’s affinity with the Ardennes. Fifteen years with a Dutch team has given van Roosbroeck a particular affection for the Amstel Gold Race; one shared by his latest employer. “A lot of people say, ‘Ahh, Amstel, it’s not a real Classic’, but for me it’s like when QuickStep go to Flanders: we’re ready and we go.”

He plays down the rivalry with QuickStep, the only other Belgian team in the UCI WorldTour, claiming that it doesn’t apply to the staff, many of whom are likely to have worked together at other teams. For the riders, however, things are different, and at the Tour, where Cavendish, Greipe, and their respective sprint trains will go head-to-head, “they will make a match of it, for sure.”

As with Team Sky last year, Lotto-Belisol will attempt to “make a match of it” in the mountains as well as the sprints at this year’s Tour de France. They are ably equipped to do so, with Greipel for the flat stages, and Jurgen Van Den Broeck for the GC. Van Roosbroeck’s relationship with the reportedly ice-cold Van Den Broeck is warm, developed from the earliest races of the rider’s nine-year professional career, when he joined US Postal as a neo-pro. He sees first hand the efforts his countryman and near neighbour makes in training, most recently during a recce in Corsica, and believes his readiness for suffering and sacrifice will allow him “to play for the podium” on the spectacularly hard parcours that will mark the centenary Tour.

Van Den Broeck’s work ethic arises, unprompted, in conversations with other team members. His mechanic places him among the ten best stage racers in the world, and in the top six of those who will contest the Tour. The leap from sixth to third he believes isn’t great, and given the nature of the course, is within Van Den Broeck’s grasp. “It’s a good Tour for him,” he says. “It’s a really hard last week, with Ventoux and twice Alpe d’Huez in one day, so for him, it’s a really good shot this year, and he knows, and he does everything for it.”

Lotto-Belisol’s Jurgen Van Den Broeck will ‘play for the podium’ at the 2013 Tour de France, van Roosbroeck believes

If Lotto-Belisol’s twin-track approach to the Tour seems ambitious – it proved too great a challenge even for Sky last season – it will not phase van Roosbroeck, who has seen it all. “I was with Superconfex in a team winning stages with Nijdam. You get a phone call from Bruyneel. ‘You want to come to my team? I want you in the car with me’. Ok. Wow. And then you move from winning stages and not caring in the mountains, and a lot of the time not caring in the time trials, to the most important thing being the time trial, and the mountains, and the training camp, and the recon. It’s still the same job, but it’s a totally different approach.”

The association with Johan Bruyneel was the longest of van Roosbroeck’s career and made him mechanic to the most famous, and now vilified, cyclist on the planet. What does he make of the Armstrong scandal, one that implicates Bruyneel, despite the manager’s continued denials, and engulfed the US Postal squad? How does he now regard that team and its achievements? “I’m really proud,” says van Roosbroeck, a defiant but unconvincing smile failing to mask the weariness in his eyes. He seems tired of the subject, one perhaps unfair to have raised, akin to grilling the RBS branch cashier on the actions of Fred Goodwin.

His most revealing insights, or perhaps, the insights most revealing of van Roosbroeck, do not concern the team’s disgraced leader, however. Asked to describe Armstrong, he answers in a word – “nice” – an adjective rarely, if ever, associated with the Texan. Less surprisingly, like most of those van Roosbroeck describes as “the top guys”, Armstrong knew what he wanted from his machine. “With Lance and with Trek, when he said, ‘I want this’, there was a call to America and someone started working. That’s the advantage of working with the biggest.” His greatest affection, however, is reserved for two of Armstrong’s domestiques: José Azevedo and José Luis Rubiera, men whose combination of friendliness and sacrifice have clearly earned van Roosbroeck’s lasting admiration.

The theme continues as the conversation turns to his most cherised memories. “When you go to the Tour de France with top guys, you’re there to win. Everybody is prepared to win. What I like most are the team time trials. Then you win with the guy who does the luggage to the guy who finishes on the bike. So for me the best memories are the team time trials with US Postal. You work together, you train together, you go to training camps, you travel, especially with those bikes, you can make a lot of time on them, the day comes and everything works out. For me, that’s a good feeling: winning team time trials in big races. When Lance wins a mountain top finish or Wiggins wins an individual time trial, it’s kind of logic, you know? That’s what they are there for. But with the team TT, the ninth guy to the top guy has to be in super condition that day. There’s no room for error.”

Winning a team time trial is the most satisfying victory in cycling, says van Roosbroeck

Pressure would certainly have mounted on the Astana squad assembled to contest the 2009 Tour de France. The return of Armstrong, aged 39, from a four-year hiatus to a team now led by a 26-year-old with three Grand Tour wins already on his palmares, was undoubtedly the story of the race’s 96^th edition. “That was special,” van Roosbroeck, smiles. “It was not so bad as they like to say. For me, it was not so bad. I speak Spanish, and I was good with the Spanish side also.

“In the winter, there were some things. Contador wasn’t so happy. He was afraid, he was intimidated: his mistake, actually, because there was no reason why Contador should be intimidated by Lance. At that moment, he was by far the strongest stage rider. Nobody had doubts about that, but if you see Armstrong coming in the room, it’s a big personality. It’s not easy to put that aside. That was the biggest issue. In the Tour, there was a lot of stories, this and that. From my opinion, it wasn’t so bad.”

Van Roosbroeck and his seven colleagues will spend about 180 days on the road this year. The amount of travel has reduced as the number of team personnel has increased. During his early career, a team would employ four mechanics, who would then be split into pairs. Lotto-Belisol has eight mechanics, giving van Roosbroeck and his colleagues breaks of up to 10 days. Time away from races does not always mean time away from the team, however. A reconnaissance trip to Corsica with a directeur sportif and the team’s GC leader, Jurgen Van den Broeck, accounted for van Roosbroeck’s three-day break between Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race.

Despite 25 seasons working at cycling’s top tier, van Roosbroeck is still enthused by the sport. He recognises the struggle faced by many races in February and March but welcomes its continued expansion, a source of concern to some. The future of cycling he believes, with the exception of the Monuments, lies outside of Europe. “I think it will be ok. I hope,” he says. “I’m just worried I’m too old, you know? I’m 43. I wish I was 22 with all the things that are going to come. “

Lotto-Belisol

RoadCyclingUK travelled as a guest of Ridley Bikes, supplier to the UCI WorldTour team, Lotto-Belisol