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Sunday 6th September Personal triumph in Venice brings 2015 Haute Route series to a closeThe numbers are staggering and yet they don’t quite do the scale of achievement justice. Sixteen hundred riders, 21 brutal stages and a total of 1.2 million kilometres cycled – to the moon and back with plenty of ground to spare. But for the 2015 Haute Route Alps, Pyrenees and Compact finishers over the last three weeks, not to mention the 400 riders that reached the Dolomites Swiss Alps finish line in Venice today, their accomplishment is measured in personal battles won and unattainable goals achieved. By every measure these were three of the toughest Haute Route events staged. The wild beauty and savage challenge of the Pyrenees was laid bare in one moment on the top of the majestic Tourmalet. Freezing fog swept over the peloton on the first climb of a marathon third stage, the finish line in Toulouse a distant 400km and three and a half days away. Rain battered the peloton on the first two days of the Alps before the real challenge of the week was even encountered. A landslide six months before the event forced a course alteration, the inclusion of more climbing and the addition of two ascents of the exacting Col de la Croix de Fer – a climb so relentlessly long even the most hardened Haute Route veteran was forced to endure it rather than enjoy it. And then the Dolomites Swiss Alps. This was the longest of any Haute Route edition staged; Europe’s highest and most dramatic mountain passes punctuated by every kind of weather conceivable, most of which was not helpful for the riders. But by the end of the event, the scale of challenge put the sense of achievement into sharp relief. Dolomites Swiss Alps finisher Rebecca Johnson, from America, said: “It’s been harder than I ever thought it could be, but that’s what makes it what it is. The Haute Route allows you to achieve something you just didn’t believe was possible.” This is the second year that the full Haute Route series has been staged – three week-long events back-to-back – and five years since the inaugural event in the Alps. A record 1,600 riders aged between 18 and 74-years-old, from 50 different nationalities, entered 2015’s events. Twenty-eight brave souls signed up for the triple crown: that’s three weeks of mental and physical exertion at the limit – 2,500km and 60,000 vertical meters of climbing across 21 stages. For the second time, double amputee Christian Haettich finished all three events – one of only three men to have raced in every Haute Route edition. He said: “I would be lying if I said I haven’t had difficult moments, especially the first three days. I had no power on the first stage between Geneva and Crans-Montana but I had a significant amount of people cheering me on and that is what took me to the finish line. Sometimes it’s all you need. My personal goal was to make it to the last finish line. Nothing else matters to me.” Haute Route Project Manager, Julie Royer said: “When we set up the Haute Route we had no idea of the sort of challenge we would end up creating. The passion, determination and resilience shown by every single rider is humbling – it’s what gets the organisation through the long days on the road. “We try to provide as much support as we can and the mountains make for a breathtaking setting, but ordinary people with a passion for cycling, putting themselves through hell to achieve something extraordinary, are the lifeblood of the Haute Route.” Further coverage of 2015’s Haute Route events including final standings, event videos and features can be found at www.hauteroute.org. Entries for 2016’s events are open now. For more information click here |