Ride a European sportive

The UK has a packed sportive calendar but there’s little that matches tackling an event on exotic foreign roads. Sign-up and start training – a mountainous European sportive is likely to be a significantly tougher challenge than many of the the UK’s rides.

The Etape du Tour, La Marmotte and Maratona dles Dolomites are Europe’s most prestigious sportives, taking place in the Pyrenees, Alps and Dolomites in 2014 respectively, though this year’s Marmotte and Maratona both take place on the same weekend as the Tour de France Grand Départ to give many riders a date clash headache.

But there are plenty of other events aside from the big three, with the L’Ariégeoise, Alpenbrevet and Quebrantahuesos to name three more in France, Switzerland and Spain respectively.