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.
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.
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.
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.
More details about the route and the rest of the event can be found at www.trans-provence.com.
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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.