After many months in the making- a new event, the Trans-Provence is now officially launched. The www.trans-provence.com website is live and entries are open for the 2009 event which will take place from 27th September – 3rd October.
The Trans-Provence is a 7-day mountain bike adventure race across the mediterranean Pre-Alps to the sea, from Gap to Monaco. This moderately competitive event takes place in the style of a rally over the course of 12 timed stages… the winner being the rider arriving on the Med having clocked up the lowest total time.
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The ethos in putting this event together was to construct a route which is first and foremost exhilerating to ride. This means as much quality singletrack descending as possible; virtually unknown singletrack that has been painstakingly handpicked and linked into a point-to-point itinerary. The result? Over 90% of the route’s 15000m of vertical descent is on virtually untouched wilderness singletrack – sometimes smooth, flowy and fast, sometimes rocky and technical, sometimes a mix of the above.
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The route is also a physical challenge with some prolonged ascents, although with the use of vehicle uplifts at the start of each day, we have a bit of a headstart on the way to our daily dose of singletrack. Over the course of the week, this amounts to a total of 5000m “free vertical” provided by the uplifts.
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With the focus of this event shifting from out-and-out endurance to maximised singletrack riding, it also promotes the social side of things. Your evenings can be spent kicking back with a well-deserved beer, safe in the knowledge that the next day will bring more pleasure than pain… for the most part 😉 The event is then topped-off wih a finish line beach send-off in Monte Carlo.
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More details about the route and the rest of the event can be found at www.trans-provence.com.
Replies (6)
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The ending looks very promising 😉
Looks a bit tamer than most Trans events. 320km over 7 days is only about 45km a day, and 9500m climbing isn’t really a lot…as for uplifts!? 🙂
“Looks a bit tamer than most Trans events”
climbing-wise it *is* a bit tamer than most
trail technicality / descending wise, is far from tame 🙂
Vdubber67 as local I can tell you that you’ll get more rock then in all trans event.
Trust me , the last day of riding is going to make you cry.
This looks amazing! Sweet singletrack covering a decent distance, without the pesky climbing!
Its not really a race though is it? Its a holiday, a nice holiday mind.