Transmaurienne Vanoise 2024

Introduction

This is my first time participating in this event. I didn't really know much about it in advance apart from what their web page says: http://www.transmaurienne-vanoise.com/

The race is surprisingly cheap: €500 with boarding and one meal per day. And the living quarters are nice and spacious. I have four beds, a kitchen and my own loo.

The stages are split into two locations but it's just a 20 kilometer drive in between so no biggie.

We're racing high up in the mountains. The stages start at 1300 meters of altitude and we cross over peaks way over 2000 meters high.

I was put in the M45 category. Yeah, no M50, and M45 is from 45 year to 54 year olds. And I'll me 54 this year. Lots of youngers to race against in other words.

Race stats

Type: UCI Mountain bike race

Length: 5 stages / days, third stage shorter XCO race

Location: Val Cenis, France

Bike and setup: Lapierre XRM (120mm/120mm suspension) with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" tires (1.5 bar)

Gearing: 32T up front, 10-52T in the back

Alpentour Trophy 2024 - 4 day stage race on MTB - Sixth place on General Classification in M50

Result: 6th place in M50

Race stats

Type: UCI Mountain bike race

Length: 4 stages / days, last stage is a shorter hill climb time trial

Location: Schladming, Austria

Bike and setup: Lapierre XRM (120mm/120mm suspension) with Maxxis Aspen 2.2" tires (1.5 bar)

Gearing: 32T up front, 10-52T in the back

Intro

I participated in this race for the first time last year, in 2023. When I took part then I was in a bit of a lull motivation-wise and had had a terrible Beskidy Trophy just a few weeks prior. I did very well in Alpentour and finished in 5th place (Alpentour Trophy 2023) I really enjoyed it and wanted to come back for more. Last year I did it at the end of my European trip, this time at the start. The stages this year are very similar, only the track for stage 1 and stage 3 have been swapped around.

Chiang Mai Winter Adventure 2023

The Stats

Days of cycling: 23

Total distance covered: 1846 kilometers

Average per day: 80 kilometers

Total moving time: 115 hours

Average rolling time per day: 5 hours

Strava KOMs: 5

Crashes: 0

Days of rain/wind/clouds: 0