Ginevra-Nizza tappa 3

Dopo le prime due tappe di cui non ho pedalato nulla, arriva il “tappone”; una vera e propria GFondo inserita nella settimana con i suoi 162km e 4000mt. Solo due salite in pratica, ma le tipiche salite francesi da oltre 20km: Madeleine (di cui conosco il lato che faremo a scendere sulla Maurienne) e il doppio Téhégraphe-Galibier (in pratica una unica salita da 35km, per fortuna interrotta da 4 km di discesa su Valloire, e da qui al Gpm la conosco). Intelligente la scelta degli organizzatori di far concludere il tratto cronometrato in cima al Galibier, la discesa sul Lautaret non è di quelle estreme, ma è meglio percorrerla a velocità cicloturistica.

Focus on … the Stage 3 Bourg-Saint-Maurice – Serre Chevalier
Stage 3 of the Haute Route 2011 will start in Bourg-Saint-Maurice on Tuesday 23rd August at 07:15. On the menu that day, 162 km between Savoie and Hautes Alpes, the marathon stage of the event, the longest and the most demanding one.
You will leave as a secured convoy all the way to the bottom of the Col de la Madeleine, after Moutiers. The real start (timing starts) will be given at the 31st kilometre. You will face the challenging Col de la Madeleine, heading down in La Chambre, and then ride in the Maurienne Valley 23km until you reach Saint Michel de Maurienne. You will then start the double ascent of the Col du Télégraphe and Col du Galibier. The timing will stop at the summit of the latter, 2645 meters high, before reaching Serre Chevalier Valley. Our race village will be there to welcome you in La Salle-les-Alpes for a well-deserved rest.

Main feature of Stage 3
• Start from Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Tuesday 23rd August at 7:15
• Arrive in Serre Chevalier, between 12:30 and 17:00
• 162 km overall, 110 km timed
• 4000 metres ascent / 3400 metres descent

3 major cols on the menu of Stage 3:
• Col de la Madeleine, 1993 metres, summit 61 km from the start
• Col du Télégraphe, 1565 metres, summit 117 km from the start
• Col du Galibier, 2645 metres, summit 141km from the start

What Claude Droussent, journalist and cycling expert, has to say about Stage 3
“The big day! Because it is the third one, your legs will start to hurt; because there are 162 kilometres and it will be the longest leg of the week; and more importantly because you will go from the Madeleine to the Télégraphe and the Galibier, a big and beautiful mountain stage. Fabulous!
The first part of the Madeleine via Aigueblanche is not very difficult. The last twelve kilometres however will offer no respite with an ascent between 7 and 9% gradient after Celliers, surrounded by a rocky background up to 1993 meters. Enjoy the descent to recuperate: the Maurienne Valley is never simple to broach, you could encounter headwinds all the way to the bottom of the Télégraphe!
There and then, it’s time for the ‘pièce de résistance’. The Télégraphe, with its bends in the middle of the pine forest: ten kilometres with a regular ascent at 7%. Here we go! The small descent to Valloire and then the Galibier. The King of the Alps, the one that inspired the famous drawings of « L’Homme aux marteaux » from Pellos awaits you with its irregular slip road but harsh for morale because it is almost a straight line all the way to Plan Lachat.
There, the ‘real’ col starts: 8 kilometres at 9 to 10% all up to 2645 meters. The main difficulty of the Galibier, which is really the main bit of the Haute Route, is here, on these last 8 kilometres in a dreamlike landscape, but above 2000 meters in altitude, i.e. with lack of oxygen. One must really think about it in the Madeleine and the Télégraphe, to manage to save your energy, otherwise the Galibier could really become a nightmare. At the summit, at kilometre 141, it’s a done deal! However, it goes all the way down to Serre Chevalier and if you’re not too exhausted, enjoy yourself!”