This was the first edition of this sportif. Jean Pierre Papin is a famous French footballer who set up a sportif to promote his charity Neuf de Couer (Nine of Hearts). This one took place 1hrs drive from the house, on the other side of Geneva in France on the way to Chamonix. The start was on the road to Morzine. I thought this one would be a little easier than the Time Megéve the previous weekend but the distance and climbing was about the same at 120kms and 2900m of climbing. There were two distances but all 810 started at the same time which made for a pretty hairy first 20kms or so. Luckily the climbs started shortly after that and the mass of cyclists filtered out. I managed to work my way to front and crossed the first time check in 9th place. The real climbing started shortly after that and I couldn't hold the pace. The main climb the Col de Remaz was a brute. I think it was this one where Joseba Beloki had his career ending crash in the 2005 Tour and Lance famously rode cross country unscathed. The event ended on a 10km climb. I was pretty wasted at the end but managed 40th out of 387 that rode the long course and was 13th out of 187 in the 40-49 age group so I was pretty happy.
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