Sportive

Haute Route series expands for 2018, including five new three-day events

New events in San Francisco, North Carolina, Utah, Norway and more

The infamous Haute Route multi-day sportive series is to expand to 11 events in 2018, including five new three-day events.

Three are to take place in the United States, with San Francisco, Ashville and Utah the host locations, while there are two others in Europe: the Haute Route Stelvio based out of Bormio, and Maserati Haute Route Norway in the Stavanger region.

The calendar is also set to see the return of established events such as the Haute Route Alps, Haute Route Pyrenees and Haute Route Dolomites, with the Alps event run from north to south (Megève to Nice) and the Pyrenean event starting and finishing in the ‘Gateway to the Pyrenees’, Pau. The Dolomiti edition has been re-modeled into two three-day events to ensure a visit to the most famous climbs, according to Haute Route organisers, OC Sport.

The 2018 Haute Route series will include five new three-day events

Haute Route 2018
April 20-22 – San Francisco
May 18-20 – Asheville
June 8-10 – Stelvio
June 23- 29 – Mavic Rockies
July 13-15 – Alpe d’Huez
August 3-5 – Maserati Norway
August 18-24 – Pyrenees August
August 26 – September 1 – Alps
September tbc – Dolomites
September 14-16 – Utah
October 5-7 – Ventoux

The calendar

The season is set to open with the inaugural San Francisco event (April 20-22), which is set to make the most of the thriving cycling culture in the Bay area, before the Asheville event in North Carolina around the Blue Ridge Mountains (May 18-20).

Then it’s over to Europe for the first ever three-day Haute Route Stelvio (June 8-10). Established events then follow with the seven-day Mavic Haute Route Rockies (June 23-29) and the Haute Route Alpe d’Huez (July 13-15). The Maserati Haute Route Norway then makes its debut at the start of August (3-5).

Familiar terrain is then covered once again with the refreshed week-long Pyrenean and Alpine adventures in the second half of August, before the three-day Haute Route Dolomites in September (exact date TBC). Then it’s back to new territory in the States with the Haute Route Utah (September 14-16), before the calendar finale around the famous Mont Ventoux between October 5-7.

Enter as a duo

Alongside the five new events, organisers OC Sport have announced that entrants can enter as a solo rider, as before, or tackle the events as a duo, introducing an element of collective team riding to the event.

Riders registering as a duo will not be included in the individual standings and the rankings will be established based on the time of the second member to cross the finish line every day.

Entries for the Mavic Hate Route Rockies and Haute Route Alpe d’Huez are now open via the Haute Route website, with the eight other confirmed events all opening for registration on Thursday October 19.

Website: Haute Route