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The highest sportive in Europe: are you tough enough?

New La Mercan’Tour Café du Cycliste includes 2,802m Col de la Bonette

A new sportive called la Mercan’Tour Café du Cycliste has been announced that takes in the 2,802m Col de la Bonette, Europe's highest paved through (non dead end) road.

The Mercan’Tour is the only sportive permitted access to the Mercantour National Park, known for being one of France’s most beautiful natural landscapes.

La Mercan Tour Cafe du Cycliste - 10.jpg

The sportive, organised by Club Alpes Azur and French bike clothing brand Café du Cycliste, will start in Guillaume, and you’ll have the choice of the short route (119km/74 miles) or the long one (180km/112 miles). The short one still looks tough in that it takes in both slopes of the hors categorie Col de Cayolle. The long route includes the Col de Cayolle, Col de la Couillole and Col de la Bonette.

La Mercan Tour Cafe du Cycliste - 8.jpg

Col de la Bonette is the headline grabber here. At 2,802m it's almost 1,000m higher than the famous Alpe d’Huez climb. The long route tots up a total of over 4,600m of climbing. That’s a big day in the saddle by anyone’s standards. Even the short route takes in over 2,700m of vertical ascent. 

Here’s the type of terrain you can expect.

“It’s become something of a tradition for us to ride the Bonette every year as soon as the snow ploughs open the road so it has a special resonance,” said Café du Cycliste co-founder Remi Clermont. 

La Mercan Tour Cafe du Cycliste - 4.jpg

Event organisers say, “To ensure the integrity of the park, the event has been designed to have minimal impact on the surroundings. In addition, and in association with Reforest’Action, a tree will be planted for each participant to ensure an environmental legacy is left.”
 
La Mercan’tour Café du Cycliste will take place on the 19 June 2016.

La Mercan Tour Cafe du Cycliste - 3.jpg

For more info go to www.lamercantourcyclo.com

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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6 comments

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TimHolmes | 8 years ago
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Hi Matt – this looks like just your sort of thing!

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ianrobo | 8 years ago
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Ah looks the challenge for 2017 then !! 

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Leviathan replied to ianrobo | 8 years ago
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ianrobo wrote:

Ah looks the challenge for 2017 then !! 

Or

http://road.cc/content/feature/83843-riding-marrakech-atlas-%C3%A9tape

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harrybav | 8 years ago
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The Cime (little top loop) is highest paved through route iirc.

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Pub bike replied to harrybav | 6 years ago
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vbvb wrote:

The Cime (little top loop) is highest paved through route iirc.

The Teifenbach Glacier road goes through the top of a mountain in a tunnel exiting at a 'col' that is 2829m, and then descends to a ski resort on the other side.  It is fully paved (apart from some potholes in the tunnel). I would call it a through route.

The col at Bonette is 2715m, so beaten by Iseran (2770), Stelvio (2757), and Agnel (2744).  It doesn't really matter though because they're all awesome to cycle over, Stelvio in particular, although Agnel is pretty breathtaking also, at least passing into Italy.

 

 

 

Avatar
harrybav | 8 years ago
1 like

I liked the peace and quiet of this climb, a beautiful route. Not highest paved road in Europe though.

 

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