If you want to win free entry from Strava to the Rapha Tempest cycling festival at Broughton Hall, Yorkshire this July, you’ll need to be quick – literally.
The ride tracking service has joined forces with the London-based clothing brand to offer free entry to the men and women who top the leaderboards for any of six iconic climbs in the UK.
Lucky winners will gain free entry to the four-day festival, which will be held in the grounds of the Skipton manor house, from July 3, 2014 to July 6, 2014. Broughton Hall lies on the route of both Yorkshire stages of this year’s Tour de France, which starts in Leeds on Saturday July 5, 2014.
If you’re not confident of your climbing speed, but have no doubts about your dedication, another route to free tickets can be found in climbing each of the six climbs. Riders have from today (Saturday April 19) until Sunday June 1 to log the necessary segments.
Box Hill
Box Hill, the Surrey Hills climb made famous by its inclusion in the 2012 Olympic road race, and in last year’s RideLondon event, unfolds at an average gradient of five per cent, gaining 119m in its 2.5km duration. Current leader, Robert Seeley, who clocked a time of 5.41, will hope to retain his position at the top of the Rapha Tempest Segment Challenge leaderboard, while the field remains open for any female competitors, with no woman yet to record a time.
Buttertubs Pass
Buttertubs Pass represents a challenge of a different magnitude and is the only climb in Strava’s Rapha Tempest Challenge to feature in the Tour, where the peloton will tackle its slopes on the opening stage. Its seven per cent gradient will see the riders gain 250m in elevation in just 3.8km. No rider has yet to tackle its fearsome ramps as part of Strava’s Rapha Tempest Challenge, leaving the field clear for both men and women to register a table-topping time.
Brickworks
Slightly further south, the Peak District climb known ominously as the Brickworks already has four names on the leaderboard, just hours after the challenge was launched. John M tops the Challenge leaderboard after conquering the six per cent gradient of the 2.6km climb in a time of 9.36. The absolute leaderboard, however, is topped by Welsh professional, Jon Mould, who will race this year for NFTO, and recorded a time of six minutes.
Cheddar Gorge
From one end of the country to the other, and Cheddar Gorge represents the next climb on the Strava Tempest Challenge. Located in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, the gruelling 5.1km climb unfolds at an average gradient of 4.1 per cent, gaining 193m in altitude and topping out at 214m. Phoebe Parker tops the women’s leaderboard for the segment with a time of 12.51, achieved at an average power output of 321 watts, but with no times yet recorded on the Tempest Challenge leaderboard, Cheddar Gorge could represent an ideal opportunity to win free tickets from Strava to the Rapha Tempest Festival.
Hardknott Pass
Hardknott Pass is billed by the Strava Tempest Challenge organisers as “arguably the hardest in England” and with a peak gradient of 30 per cent, few will disagree. Gaining 315m of elevation in just 2.6km, this formidable Cumbrian pass has an average gradient of 12 per cent. Billy R tops the Strava Tempest Challenge leaderboard for this climb, with a time of 23.31.
Ditchling Beacon
The final climb of the challenge will be well known to any rider who has ridden from London to Brighton. The average nine per cent gradient of Ditchling Beacon is not to be underestimated, organisers say. An elevation gain of 133m in 1.5m gives the Beacon an average gradient of nine per cent. Local rider, Paul Archer, of Burgess Hilll currently tops the Strava Tempest Challenge Leaderboard with a time of 6.32.
