2013 Alps Haute Route Course – Etape du Tour 7 days in a row

The 2013 Alps Haute Route Course has now been announced and boy am I jealous that I won't be there (it's number 1 on my sportif bucket list).

How hard will the 2013 Alps Haute Route Course be?

Ridiculous – 21000+ M of climbing, 866km, over 7 days.

The 2013 Haute Route will start as can be expected…with a sense of faux-gaiety, a touch of naivety which will summarily be expunged from oneself as the full import of the week ahead is delivered with hammer blows on the rest of the first day.

(If any generous benefactors/tour companies/sponsors want to send me over to do PR/promo work for them for either Haute Route Alps or Pyrenees, my calendar is very accommodative – hello, Oakley?)

Looking at the course, there are some eye-glazingly huge days.

There are 8 HC climbs with an HC climb on every single day and one day with two!

The route looks super fun too.

What is immediately obvious is that most people are going to need to do some serious training for this because it is not for beginners or even good riders with only some experience in the mountains.

If you're not really experienced with this type of riding and decide to do the event anyway, it's important that you do some training (more on this further in the article).

The 2013 Haute Route course

2013 will see 85% new course.

Although there are hundreds of mountains to be climbed in the Alps, thus making finding new routes a touch easier, it's still a great achievement to have such a large amount of new terrain given the start and finish points (Geneva, Nice) are the same each year (so far).

(Though to be honest, even if the course was the same year in, year out, I'd do it more than once.)

The 7 Haute Route 2013 stages are below (see it on the official Haute Route site). The Haute Route organisers have called HC climbs “1st class”, Cat 1s and “2nd class” and so on.

There are some pretty epic stages – my pick is Stage 6. Although “only” 142km, it has the largest amount of climbing (3800m) of any stage across 4 climbs.

The climb into Megeve is entirely amazing.

• Stage 1, Sunday 18th August: Geneva to Megeve (149km, 3300m D+) – Col de l’Encrenaz (2nd Class), Col de Joux Plane (1st Class), Ascent to Megève (2nd Class)
• Stage 2, Monday 19th August: Megeve to Val d’Isere (108km, 3400m D+) – Col des Saisies (2nd Class), Col du Cormet de Roselend (1st Class), Ascent to Val d’Isère (2nd Class)
• Stage 3, Tuesday 20th August: Val d’Isere to Serre Chevalier (164km, 3400m D+) – Col de l’Iseran (1st Class), Col du Mont Cenis (2nd Class), Col de L’Echelle (2nd Class)
• Stage 4, Wednesday 21st August: Serre Chevalier to Pra Loup (118km, 3000m D+) – Col d’Izoard (1st Class), Col de Vars (1st Class), Ascent to Pra Loup (2nd Class)
• Stage 5, Thursday 22nd August: Time trial – Cime de La Bonette (23km, 1560m D+)- Cime de la Bonette (1st Class)
• Stage 6, Friday 23rd August: Pra Loup to Auron (142km, 3800m D+) – Col de la Cayolle (1st Class), Col de Valberg (2nd Class), Col de la Couillole (3rd Class), Ascent to Auron (2nd Class)
• Stage 7, Saturday 24th August: Auron to Nice (162km, 2900m D+) – Col de St Martin (1st Class), Col de Vence (3rd Class)

Mountain breakdown

There is some serious climbing on the 2013 Haute Route Alps.

HC Climbs

There are some monster climbs here. The Col de l'Iseran, Col de l'Izoard and Bonnette (sometimes called Bonnette-Restafond) are absolute beasts. I've not climbed them yet but they are numbers 1, 2 and 3 on my bucket list.

Col de Joux Plane
• Distance : 13 km
• Elevation : 691 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1691 m
• Average gradient : 6,5 %
• Maximum gradient : 11,1 %

Col du Cormet de Roselend
• Distance : 20 km
• Elevation : 1167 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1967 m
• Average gradient : 6 %
• Maximum gradient : 10 %

Col de l’Iseran
• Distance : 16 km
• Elevation : 930 m
• Altitude at the summit : 2770 m
• Average gradient : 6 %
• Maximum gradient : 8,3 %

Col d’Izoard
• Distance : 19 km
• Elevation : 1156 m
• Altitude at the summit : 2361 m
• Average gradient : 5,7 %
• Maximum gradient : 9,4 %

Col de Vars
• Distance : 20,5 km
• Elevation : 1109 m
• Altitude at the summit : 2109 m
• Average gradient : 5,7 %
• Maximum gradient : 8,7 %

Cime de la Bonette
• Distance : 23,5 km
• Elevation : 1560 m
• Altitude at the summit : 2802 m
• Average gradient : 6,6 %
• Maximum gradient : 9 %

Col de la Cayolle
• Distance : 25,5 km
• Elevation : 1143 m
• Altitude at the summit : 2326 m
• Average gradient : 4,5 %
• Maximum gradient : 8,2 %

Col de St Martin
• Distance : 16,5 km
• Elevation : 1100 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1500 m
• Average gradient : 6,6 %
• Maximum gradient : 7,7 %

Cat 1 climbs

Lots of pain hidden here in the Cat 1s (quantity 9) too. One of the hardest climbs I've ever done – the Col de Marie Blanque is a cat 1.

Col de l’Encrenaz
• Distance : 15,5 km
• Elevation : 790 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1433 m
• Average gradient : 5 %
• Maximum gradient : 9,8 %

Ascent to Megève
• Distance : 13,5 km
• Elevation : 553 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1104 m
• Average gradient : 4 %
• Maximum gradient : 7,5 %

Col des Saisies
• Distance : 13,5 km
• Elevation : 650 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1650 m
• Average gradient : 4,9 %
• Maximum gradient : 11,1 %

Ascent to Val d’Isère
• Distance : 19 km
• Elevation : 969 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1840 m
• Average gradient : 5,1 %
• Maximum gradient : 8,9 %

Col du Mont Cenis
• Distance : 10,5 km
• Elevation : 663 m
• Altitude at the summit : 2083 m
• Average gradient : 6,5 %
• Maximum gradient : 10,6 %

Col de L’Echelle
• Distance : 13 km
• Elevation : 566 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1762 m
• Average gradient : 4,3 %
• Maximum gradient : 7,9 %

Ascent to Pra Loup
• Distance : 7,5 km
• Elevation : 378 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1598 m
• Average gradient : 5 %
• Maximum gradient : 9,6 %

Col de Valberg
• Distance : 12,5 km
• Elevation : 874 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1672 m
• Average gradient : 6,9 %
• Maximum gradient : 10,2 %

Ascent to Auron
• Distance : 31,5 km
• Elevation : 1103 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1598 m
• Average gradient : 3,5 %
• Maximum gradient : 9,4 %

Cat 2 climbs

2 cols and ascents classified as 3rd Class.

Col de la Couillole
• Distance : 7,5 km
• Elevation : 239 m
• Altitude at the summit : 1678 m
• Average gradient : 3,2 %
• Maximum gradient : 11,2 %

Col de Vence
• Distance : 16 km
• Elevation : 462 m
• Altitude at the summit : 962 m
• Average gradient : 2,8 %
• Maximum gradient : 6,7 %

Training for Haute Route

Most people will need to train for Haute Route.

If you've ever done Etape du Tour or another mountain sportif, you'll know how hard it can be.

Now imagine doing Etape du Tour 7 days in a row – that's what Haute Route will be like.

It is going to be mind bogglingly hard.

If you've never trained before, or have, but need a training plan, I offer three training options.

1. 16 week program – though written for Etape, this will get you ready just in time over 4 months. This would suit people with some fitness base but at a pinch those with little to no mountain fitness will benefit from this too.
2. 8 week program – this is for those who have some fitness and just need an 8 week polish to get the legs fully prepped. If you don't have any training base, get the 16 week one or longer plan (below).
3. 3, 6 and 9 month training programs – get your training plan delivered weekly and train as long as you want (training is via a monthly subscription).

Gearing, Nutrition and other info

Check out the VeloNomad Haute Route guide for loads more info including (click the links below to be taken to the section in the article).

• Who should do this
• Cost
• Logistics – getting there
• Accommodation options
• Training
• Going with a tour group
• Nutrition and fuelling
• Recovery eating
• Recovery – massage, stretching and self treatment
• What to take
• What gears for Haute Route
• Language, Internet and more