Back in January I found myself lucky enough to be accepted for an entry into the inaugural Trans-Savoie multi-day enduro race in the French Alps, which would take place in August. I’ve previously ridden a similar event, the Trans-Provence and this new race was a brilliant opportunity to do another stage race in an area I know well from skiing, and I was pretty excited given that entries were full 3 seconds after opening.
A slow start to training this year (well, it was a pretty rubbish winter) got me a bit worried about being ready, but with some recent commuting mileage and a mix of MTB and road riding, I headed off to Geneva on Sat 17th August reasonably well prepared, and riding a demo Canyon Strive bike very kindly provided by Canyon UK (thanks Alex!)
The arrival in Val d’Isere provided the first chance to meet the other riders, and the group of 75 comprised a huge mix of people with varying experience in riding big Alpine mountains, and of enduro racing. Expectations varied between those professional riders racing for the win, several keen sponsored amateurs looking to enhance their reputations and grab a share of the acclaim for doing well on individual stages, and the bulk hoping to do as well as they can against the testing course that stood before us and the finish near Chamonix in 6 days’ time. My hope was to ride within myself for the duration, as I know from previous events that people often push too hard early on and either damage themselves or their bikes irreparably making further progress. While I was never going to threaten the leaders, I ideally wanted to achieve a mid-table result and just enjoy the chance to ride some amazing Alpine trails specially selected for this event.
Sunday dawned bright and clear, and we readied ourselves ahead of the first lift opening at 9:30am and a short ride on a red trail before traversing to the start of the special stage. The combination of a full face helmet (to avoid further facial and dental re-arrangements), the altitude and the short climb had me breathing hard, and I was certainly warmed up for the opening special stage.
The stage itself was a narrow ribbon of singletrack winding around the hillside crossing some evil and large water-bars (up to 12″ high vertical slabs of rock), a few gentle hairpins and open sections before heading into our first piece of woodland singletrack and the end of the stage. I felt rusty and while I got down okay, it didn’t feel like it had flowed at all, but at least it was one down and four to go.
The liaison section took us back into Val and up the Olympique cable car ready for a timed descent and an undulating traverse over to Tignes and the centre of Tignes le Lac. The first half of the descent went well, but either I missed a marker arrow or someone (walker, not rider) had chosen to move the signpost, so it was several more minutes of descending before realising that I was no longer in the correct location. On returning to the top of the mountain and the start of stage 2, I found I was one of about 15 riders who had all managed to miss the correct route and head down the wrong side of the mountain, so while having expended some extra energy and done another 1000m of unplanned descending, I also found out that we could re-start the route and would not face any penalty.
Attempt two went okay, although once again the altitude made the traverse a real physical challenge, and I still didn’t feel entirely happy with my riding before dropping into Tignes and the lunch stop for the day.
From the top of the lift we rode and walked a fantastic ridgeline before tagging our timing chip for stage 3 which continued along the ridge and then back along a red trail into the valley below. Overall the section went okay and I was beginning to find my flow.
Stage 4 began with a traverse across a steep scree slope before dropping into a meadow with a wealth of lines to choose from. Unfortunately while sliding the rear wheel around one corner, I popped the rear tyre off the rim costing me valuable time. Making matters worse, on trying to fix it, I found out my pump was no longer working. A passing competitor eventually offered me their pump and I was able to continue riding but I had already lost a vast amount of time, and was considering playing my ‘wild card*’ on this stage.
The liaison between stage 4 and 5 was set to be a long one, with an 8km descent along the road to Ste Foy, and then a 900m vertical climb on tarmac and fire road. In the afternoon sunshine and with limited breeze, this was a particularly hard task and I’d missed out on the opportunity to fill my water container up after the stage 4 debacle. I ran out of fluid just before the top of the ascent and failed to spot my dehydration and need for some form of energy boost, but as it was getting late and I was towards the back of the group of riders I opted to get going straight away. Ultimately, this was to prove a stupid decision as shortly after leaving the start of section 5 I got out of shape coming into a stream and hit a rock throwing me off course where I smashed my right thigh into a large boulder. The pain was pretty excruciating and while I lay there I considered walking up and quitting the stage at that point. After a few minutes I talked myself out of the negative thoughts and decided to press on, hoping the pain would ease, after all it was probably just a dead leg caused by the impact. My descending became very cautious and stuttery, and I was struggling to cope with a trail I should be able to ride easily. Mid-way down the timed section was a road crossing which then led to some more singletrack. Unfortunately in my tiredness and pain I mistook the arrow to point further along the road, so I continued to climb for 15-20 mins before realising I’d gone wrong. My leg was still incredibly painful, and I knew I wouldn’t finish the section (as I hadn’t been able to find it) so I would have to play my wild card on this stage. I eased to the road at the bottom of the section and checked out with the timing marshal, finally wending my way back to the night’s campsite in Seez several kilometres further on.
I was spent – I’d ridden 64km, climbed about 1300m on the bike and descended around 6000m in one day. The naivety in not taking on enough fluid or food had ruined me, and a silly riding mistake meant I couldn’t really walk properly. Arriving in camp I did my best to drink plenty of fluid, and take some painkillers and apply some Arnica to help with the leg. Getting to the dinner venue hurt like crazy, and I knew I was going to be struggling to be fit for day two. I was so annoyed with myself and went to bed angry and frustrated at being stupid.
Monday dawned a slightly grey day, for more than one reason. My leg felt awful and I could barely bend it. I knew my race was over and I felt like such a fool. I’d spent a considerable amount of money entering the event and getting out to France, and to retire from racing after one day was utterly frustrating. Still, I knew the rules and what I was getting myself into, but it didn’t make it any easier. Even more annoyingly, in spite of the lack of mobility and considerable pain, the bruising was all internal and the only outward sign was a tiny scratch.
The rest of the week actually turned out to be quite enjoyable as I put myself to use helping out the organisers with various tasks and doing some of the driving to allow other helpers to get out on their bikes once in a while.
The Trans-Savoie really is an amazing experience. Ali has pulled together a fantastic selection of trails within a varying route taking in high alpine rocky paths, Alpine meadows, sub-Alpine woodland trails and a whole mix of other stuff which is not only interesting, and challenging, but absolutely stunning (when you get chance to look away from the trail in front of you). There was an attrition rate of about 20% for different reasons, mainly injuries but with a few bike failures as well. It’s not a challenge to take lightly.
Almost all riders were on all mountain type full sus bikes (150-160mm travel 26ers or slightly lesser travel bigger wheelers), and the entry field included riders from as far afield as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as continental Europeans and a large chunk of Brits. At the top end, Rene Wildhaber (he of multi-winning Megavalanche fame) won pretty much every stage of the event, even having damaged his ribs on day three. Neil Donoghue of the Steve Peat Syndicate came in third behind another young Swiss rider, and the top 10 were all riders with an element of sponsored team/shop riding.
For next year there will be some changes to the route, but if you can get an entry, you will get to enjoy one of the best week’s riding that is available anywhere.
* – One ‘wild card’ is issued to each rider for the event, allowing them to use it in the event of a bad run or a mechanical which would allow for a timing correction on one stage, placing them in the average position for the rest of the day’s stages. Once used it cannot be used again.