Can individuals take part in grand tour and other top pro bike races or is it strictly teams only.

[fimm]

Would either the Etape du Tour or the Ride Across Britain be the sort of thing you are thinking of?

 

[kedab]

is there anything that says you can't ride the same roads say, the day after the 'tour' has been through? i'd be about a day behind after 5 minutes anyway so i may as well start a day later

 

[Peteaud]

http://www.etape-cymru.co.uk/

Think this is about as close as you can get.

 

[thom]

is there anything that says you can't ride the same roads say, the day after the 'tour' has been through? i'd be about a day behind after 5 minutes anyway so i may as well start a day later

No not at all - I'm sure people do that occasionally, just those I heard of doing it on the TdF actually were one day in advance for a couple of reasons:
1) on the mountain stages there are a lot of people camping the day before so there is already a nice atmosphere
2) if you finish in Paris a day early, you get to see the finale on the Champs Elysee the next day

 

[kedab]

No not at all - I'm sure people do that occasionally, just those I heard of doing it on the TdF actually were one day in advance for a couple of reasons:
1) on the mountain stages there are a lot of people camping the day before so there is already a nice atmosphere
2) if you finish in Paris a day early, you get to see the finale on the Champs Elysee the next day

that would be something pretty special

 

[screenman]

My son did the TransWales a couple of years back.

http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/Blog/trans_wales_mtb/trans_wales_mtb.aspx

 

[andrew_s]

Or how about something like RAAM?

There's the PAC Tour.
The May 2013 elite version is San Diego to Savannah, 17 days at 165 miles per day
(counts as a RAAM qualifier if you ride the whole 2850 miles).
If that's a bit much, there are also a couple of 30 day versions (different routes).

 

[Angus444]

Ok not professionals then, what I'm asking really I guess, is does anyone know of a fully supported Grand Tour Sportive?

Don't know if this was what you were meaning, jd, but just come across this on the UCI site..... http://www.uciworldcyclingtour.com/

 

[oldroadman]

I haven't quite heard of a full grand tour like that but I do know of hardy people cycling the tour one day in advance. These past 2 years a group of Dutch blokes did it and this year a team of I think 6 US ladies did it as part of the "Reve tour". One of them blogged on the peloton website. Both these groups had their own support teams.

I have heard of an amateur week long sportive, the "Haute Route" from Geneva to Nice, (in the spirit of that bloke who drove elephants over the alps). Emma Pooley did it this year as post olympic preparation for the tour de l'ardeche, which she won.

Grand tours really are very hard and damaging to the body so I reckon it's a bit of a danger to run a full sportive. Probably the TdF would be the easiest in the sense that gradients are less severe than the Giro or Vuelta but you can see on Heidi's Swift's blog, they suffered an awful lot.

Oh really? Can't say I recall much difference in the grupetto..!

 

[thom]

Oh really? Can't say I recall much difference in the grupetto..!

Well I honestly don't know of any roads in France that go over 15%, or even 12%. There is a story that French road engineers reworked all roads to around 8% max where possible to facilitate movement of military equipment, decades ago.
The Vuelta was notable this year for the selections created by it's 20% + sections and the Giro certainly had a culture of brutal climbing, using things like the Zoncolan (at least with the previous race director). Even though those sections tend to be short I think that would make a massive difference for the more mortal of cyclist.

If you're saying you raced them or similar yourself, I suspect your capability is well beyond just getting round as a one off life achievement... The grupetto's difficulty I imagine is because of the racing, which would shed a more mortal cyclist whatever the parcours.

 

[oldroadman]

Steep or long, they all hurt - a lot. French road builders may have looked after the main roads, but some organisers can find these little roads that still climb at some very funny (not funny ha-ha either!) angles.
It's similar in Spain and Italy, bigger roads nicely graded - but go on for about 20+km, or it feels that way - and the freaky stuff is all little back roads. Like the stuff in Galicia and Basque regions this season. Horrible.

 

[thom]

Steep or long, they all hurt - a lot. French road builders may have looked after the main roads, but some organisers can find these little roads that still climb at some very funny (not funny ha-ha either!) angles.
It's similar in Spain and Italy, bigger roads nicely graded - but go on for about 20+km, or it feels that way - and the freaky stuff is all little back roads. Like the stuff in Galicia and Basque regions this season. Horrible.

I've cycled a bit in the Alps in an amateurish way.... and a little in Tuscany and Switzerland, so have limited experience but what I did find bonkers in Italy was the side roads at times. Beautiful but steep.
Re. the TdF, one of the things that puts me in awe of it (and those that do it) is when stages like the one into Pau this year, supposedly some kind of respite yet still manages to roll through 2km of climbing...