Flint's summary email

The trip is coming together.  The person that has put the itinerary together is called Joe Pearson who with his wife Amelia, runs a Morzine based company called Buzz Performance (https://buzzperformance.com/).  Those that did the Annecy - Grand Bornand Etape a few years ago have met him - he was the one that did the transport to the start and from the finish.

Dave D; David H; Jerry; Joe; Justin; Ruslan; Flint

Friday 5th July: Arrive into Nice. Settle into hotel which is located 30 mins from Nice

Saturday 6th July: Go to Nice to register, relax and prepare for the Etape.

Sunday 7th July: Pack up and leave hotel, transfer to start of Etape, Ride Etape, 90 min drive to Barcelonette

Monday 8th July: Easy ride day: Pra Loup (25km with 500m^) or Col d'Allos (40km 1170m^). Alternatively, no ride and just relax In Barcelonette after the Etape.

Tuesday 9th July: Ride Barcelonnette to Isola 2000 (93km with 3160m^). Includes Bonnette & Lombarde.

Wednesday 10th July: Ride Isola 2000 to Cuneo (103km with 1870m^).  Includes Fauniera.

Thursday 11th July: Ride Cuneo to Saint Veran( 89km with 2560m^).  Includes roughly 70km of climbing up and over Agnel.

Friday 12th July: Ride Saint Veran to Cuneo (149km with 2290m^).  This includes Vars & Larche.

Exact routes will follow.

I’m excited about this route. It includes 3 of the highest 11 cols in Europe - Bonnette (highest), D’Agnel (3rd) and Fauniera (11th).  We also have two nights staying above 2000m altitude in Isola 2000 and St Veran (which I believe is the highest municipality in France).

On the day of the Etape, we will be meet Joe from Buzz about 5km (downhill or flat) from the finish.  He will have food and drink available (as well as day bags for us with a change of clothes), so we can relax a little before heading to Barcelonette.

As you can see from the itinerary, riding the day after the Etape is entirely optional as the day is a loop back to Barcelonette.  On any day, it is possible to get into the van for a rest if feel like it.

As it stands, we have the accommodation booked on the basis of sharing twin rooms everywhere, except the Wednesday and Friday evenings in Cuneo where everyone has their own room.  In most places this is on a half board basis (breakfast and dinner).  I believe the hotels in Barcelonetee and St Veran have pools.

Based on this, the cost will be just over 1400 EUR per person (the exact number is not available yet as it will be slightly dependent on some of the questions I am going to ask in this email).  

A single supplement may be available that would take the cost up to around EUR 1950 per person if available everywhere (but I would have to confirm with this from the organisers and it may be on a case by case basis by each particular hotel).  If anyone is interested in their own room everywhere please let me know and I will see what I can do.  Also if you specifically want single rooms in Nice before the Etape, please let me know, and I can ask the organisers to price that up.

Here it gets a little complicated, but luckily there seem to be a lot of decent options.  Joe from Buzz will be driving down fro Morzine to Nice on Friday 5 July, and driving back from Cuneo to Morzine on Sat 13 July.  Buzz have a van that can take all of us and a trailer that can take all our bikes (assembled).  The difficulty is taking lots of empty bike boxes once bikes are assembled, hence the need for some ’smart logistics’.  

Anyone that gets to Morzine bye early morning on Fri 5 July can travel with Buzz, and anyone is welcome to travel back to Morzine with Buzz.

I will be driving down to Morzine to arrive on Wednesday 3 July (anyone who wishes is welcome to travel with me).   I will then travel with Buzz down to Nice.  I can take 5 bikes (possibly 6) on the car and give these to Buzz to take down to Nice.  I will be driving back with Buzz from Cuneo to Morzine, so can bring bikes back to Morzine.  The issue I have is that my car will only come back from Morzine towards the end of July.  If not having your bike in London until then is not an issue for you I am happy to take bikes back from Morzine as well.

Jerry has mentioned he may drive as well, in which case there should be room for a couple of bikes and / or people in his car to meet up with Buzz in Morzine as well, and come back directly after the trip.

Flight options;

• Fly in to Nice on Friday 5 July, take a half hour transfer to the Hotel (or Buzz meets you at the airport if the flight is a late one).  I  think we have room for up to 2 bike boxes on the trailer if all the bikes are there, so coming to Nice with a bike box is realistically an option for 2 people  However, the Nice arrival option may be suitable for someone who is travelling without a bike as flying in to Nice on that Friday from any UK airport will carry some risk of your bike not getting there or being delayed as those routes will likely be inundated with bikes.   Hotel rooms will be available from mid-afternoon. 
• Fly to Turin on Friday 5 July to arrive there in the morning.  I know it’s early, but there is a 06h05 direct Ryanair flight from Stansted to Turin, getting in at 09h00.  Buzz would meet you on the way past and it’s about 3hr30 - 4hr00 drive from there to Nice.  This is very suitable for people with bike boxes as the plan would be to build the bike immediately and leave the empty bike box at Turin Airport in left luggage for the week (about 5 EUR /day).  
• Fly out of Turin on Sat 13 th July.  Ryanair have a 15h00 flight getting in to Stansted at 16h00.  Either Buzz can drop you on the way past or Turin airport is easily accessible by train and taxi from Cuneo.   
• Alternatively one could fly out of Nice on Sat 13 July, but that is about 3-4hrs away by train and taxi (doesn’t seem the most enticing option)

Look forward to hearing from people as soon as possible.  Please give me a call if anything is not clear.

Regards

Flint