Sportives
One of the really fun things to incorporate into your cycling holiday (or to make the main purpose of your cycling holiday), is a cyclosportive (aka cyclosportif aka sportif).
I usually try and make a sportive part of my cycling holiday planning.
Here are some reports from 3 Etapes du Tour (or is that Etape du Tours? I can never be sure) I've done. Have a read and see how much fun (and how hard) they are.
However, it is not simply a case of entering and turning up to participate in the event!
You can probably guess that a lot of consideration, planning and preparation goes into incorporating a sportive into your trip; planning Etape du Tour logistics alone drives me insane!
The cost of entering a sportive can vary considerably from only €40 for something like €1000+ for Haute Route (though that is a week long event).
Some of the things you need to consider include things like:
- Taking your bike overseas (whether you should)
- Logistics on the day (this can be the cause of major headaches)
- How to enter
- Training
- Nutrition (before, during and after)
- Recovery
You can find more information like on how to enter on the above topics on some of the sportive pages below.
(I have created a special guide to Etape du Tour, which you can check out here).
Here are some sportives worth looking at if you're heading to Europe. Of course, there are many, many more sportives particularly in Europe. If you have one that you feel worthy of inclusion there's a form at the end of the post.
If you are considering a sportive, it makes sense to be fully prepared.
Make sure you read the articles above, and if you have any questions, drop me a line at the help desk.
Want to add a sportive to the list?
Submit it here and I'll add it in.
