La Saumuroise (164km), 27 August 2006

[Rich] I wasn’t really sure what to expect from my first French cyclosportif. Similar events in Britain are generally considered as fun challenges, where racing to win is rarely a concern. From what I’d heard, though, the French events were taken more seriously. Many competitors were there to race – and I mean race. Still, I’d read enough accounts of L’Etape du Tour to assure me that there would be a good portion of riders just there for the craic at La Saumuroise 2006.

This illusion was soon dispelled. As I left my hotel in the centre of Saumur, I bumped into a fellow participant, a friendly, middle-aged guy disputing his fourth La Saumuroise. His advice? Hang onto the main peloton as long as possible – or else face 150km riding alone. Apparently, he’d suffered such a fate the first time he’d ridden the event – but he’d learned his lesson since. After all, he reasoned to me, riding 40kph in someone’s wheel is not so very difficult. Hmmmmm, I was starting to wish I had done more training. A lot more training.

Typical of Loire valley towns, Saumur is dominated by its château and river

For some extraordinary reason, La Saumuroise begins and finishes in different places on the edge of town. The start line is in the northern suburb of St Lambert, while the finish line lies at the top of a hill by the airfield, some 6km west of the centre. After picking up my number and gulping down some much-needed early morning coffee, I headed to the start line - uncharacteristically one of the first to arrive! Conversation here centred around the way cyclosportifs had evolved into competitive races – and how doping was a concern even at these supposedly low-key events. Even at a small cyclosportif like La Saumuroise, with its 150-odd field, there were a couple of Elite riders fighting for the trophies and cash prizes. Opinion was that the bigger events offered the benefit of fields with varying talents and ambitions, where some participants were just there to enjoy the day. Hmm, I was starting to feel I may have picked the wrong event to begin my cyclosportif career…

Another peculiarity of the Saumuroise is that its first 36km are neutralised – much like the opening kilometres of a Tour de France stage. Neutralised at 27-30kph, that is – a speed I would consider more than healthy in my training rides, which are over much flatter terrain…

Actually, my main concern was not so much keeping up as keeping upright. No easy feat for an inexperienced rider in the midst of 150 regulars. My closest experience to such a big peloton was riding in groups of 10 or 20 on the bois de Vincennes cycle track in Paris. And now, the massed peloton experience was proving a mentally draining affair as we headed out into the Loire countryside and then back into town up the short but steep hill to the château. Although the roads were not officially closed, we did have a small entourage (motorbike, car) up front warning motorists to pull over and let us by. Hence, cars pulled over, the road narrowed, the peloton slowed down and brakes were applied. More than once mine were only applied at the last moment, avoiding a collision by just inches. How on earth do pro riders do this for 200km a day, 7 days a week, 3 weeks long? I found myself lurking near the back of the peloton just to give myself more space. Then I’d get scared of getting dropped and sprint back into the middle of the group.

By the time we reached the first feed at Fontrevaud, I was happy just to be in one piece. We stopped for all of 5 minutes before the official start. ‘Hang on as long as possible’, my new friend reminded me. Suddenly, the pack was strung out as high speed and I was fighting to stay on wheels. We were going at well over 40kph.

And before I even knew it had happened, there was a main group riding 20-odd metres ahead of me. Fortunately, I was not the only one to have been left behind. My new group constituted about 15 riders – and there even appeared to be other stragglers behind us! Given my lack of training and experience, I decided to play it cautious, and stuck tightly near the back of the group as we kept the main peloton in sight by maintaining a healthy 35kph. A lean-looking guy in his 50s suddenly peeled off the front, and turned to the rest of the group, abusing them for not doing any turns at the front. ‘C’est toujours les mêmes,’ he complained. At this stage, I could confirm that not many people were here just for the fun of it. That said, the guy got more than a bit of abuse back from those who had a less intense approach to the day.

After about 60 or 70kms, I started doing turns at the front, and noticed I was quite capable of keeping my place – especially on the short but noticeable hills, where I frequently had to wait for the other to catch up. A few riders were irredeemably dropped on these 800m-odd climbs, while we occasionally picked up others who had also lost contact with the front-runners.

For the last 50-plus kilometres, I had gained enough confidence to make a well-above-average contribution to my group’s pacemaking – especially on the more undulating portions. To put this into context, I was almost certainly the youngest in my bunch – by quite a long way! Still, it was reassuring to see myself gain in strength as the race went on. The only downer was the onset of cramp in the last hour or so.

Bizarrely, the only watering point in the non-neutralised part of the race came just 15kms from the end. This broke up our group considerably, as the serious types sped off and the rest of us took our time. Still, we pretty much all came back together – surprisingly to me, largely under my impetus.

At the rather unspectacular finish line, I was rather pleased to discover my average speed came in at 31.6kph. Of the 135 finishers, I had finished in 95th place. Hmmm, guess I still have some progress to make.

OVERALL VERDICT: A fast course littered with occasional but short hills, this cyclosportif is conducted at race speed. Even if this means you have little chance to take in the vineyard- and château-filled countryside, it’s a thrilling experience. Shame the two feeding/water zones were placed so near the start and finish – with nothing in between. The decision to start and finish the race in different places is also baffling.