Amateur racing in France

BeeGuy

My family is planning to spend a month in France next June and I'm interested in learning more about racing while I'm there. Sister lives in St. Germain en Laye in the Paris area and we've talked of renting a house in the Toulouse area. Any resources or contacts or experience would be greatly appreciated. I'm a strong Cat 4, 39 yrs old.

Thanks!

chris

borntoride

Hi Chris,

The best way to go when you're in France is to race in events called 'cyclosportif' events that are open to everyone. They are typically very well run events that have a wide variety of entrants, from Cat 1/Elite riders through to people that struggle to complete the course (typically around 130km). These are mass start events, that typically have around 500 entrants & are raced by half of the field & ridden by the other half. There are typically prizes and/or money for the top 3 in your age category & the events typically cost around 20 Euro to enter. You do not need to get an international or a French license to compete in these events. I can't reccommend these races highly enough, typically excellent organisation, great courses & some good racing.

Details of upcoming events are available on www.cyclosport.com & even better details are available in the french magazine TOPVelo.

Good luck ou Bonne Chance!

blip

I went over to France this year and did a cyclosportif race in ( the megeve Mont Blanc ) There were 1000 people in the race and full road closure, yellow Mavic support cars, the whole thing. There were 3 Cat 1 mountain passes and people cheering you the whole way, I felt like i was in the Tour. It was easily the coolest thing I have EVER done on a bike. In the back of French cycling magazines there are literally hundreds of these races. Do one or do them all, Great fun.