Are you up for Bordeaux-Paris®, the ultra-cycling challenge, one of road cycling’s monuments that has such a special place in cycling history?
THE CHALLENGE
23, 24 & 25 May 2022, do not miss out on the renewal of this legendary race
In 2014, organiser Extra Sports breathed new life into the oldest and longest of one-day races, 123 years after it was initially conceived and 35 years after it was last raced by the professional peloton. 1000 cyclists rode the legend that is Bordeaux-Paris® in 2014, but will you be there on the start line, 9 years later in Bordeaux, next May?
Who will follow in the wake of Marc Lagrange, winner of the 2014 edition in a little under 20 hours, inscribing their name beside those of Herman Van Springel (7 times winner of the race), Jacques Anquetil, Louison Bobet and Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle?
An ultra-cycling event of nearly 650 km from the Atlantic Ocean to the Eiffel Tower, from the banks of the river Garonne to those of the river Seine via Châteauroux, the magnificent château of Chambord to Issy-les-Moulineaux.
It is a true physical and sporting challenge for all ultra-cycling enthusiasts.
Ultra-cycling within everyone’s reach
Behind the myth, Bordeaux-Paris is above all an ultra-cycling event that is within the reach of the vast majority. 650 km is a considerable distance, but wishing to avoid unnecessary excess, the 5,600 metres of climbing is relatively little for the distance involved. Therefore, no need for a pro cyclist’s training programme to “smash” this iconic event.
Ride “light”, mid-course and end-course sack service
Also, we do not expect you to set out as if on a bikepacking exercise either as we provide a sack transport service allowing you to recover a first mini sack of personal effects (clothing, energy bars, lights etc.). This effectively frees you up from the burden of carrying all your equipment over the whole course. You can ride “light” and recover any equipment you might need for riding at night at the checkpoint in Châteauroux. You will then recover this sack, and a second mini sack of other items that will have been transported directly from Bordeaux, at the finish line.
Bordeaux-Paris is open to cyclists riding either leg-powered bikes or e-bikes, completing the course in under 40 hours.
THE EVENT
ULTRA – 650 km non-stop
EXPERIENCE – 330 km non-stop
– 650 km –
A solo semi-supported ultra-cycling course to be completed as quickly as possible
Using leg-powered or e-bikes only
Your objective is to complete the official course, stopping at each of the mandatory checkpoints on the route, and to finish as fast as possible.
Key facts
- 650km (this is subject to possible changes by the organisers, should the situation require, to the definitive course and distance)
- Total climbing of 5600m+ (again, may vary slightly as per the definitive course)
- 3 feed stations offering solids and hot & cold liquids to all participants, as follows :#1 : Montbron (Charente) #2 : Châteauroux (Indre) #3 : Meung-sur-Loire (Loiret)
- plus, a snack at the finish line and a meal too after the finish.
- The following bikes are permitted: road, gravel, TT bikes, recumbent bikes, and e-bikes (separate category)
- Starting in waves, as per your expected average speed (stops included) within 6 different start gates, as follows:
_ Less than 20 km/h
_ 20/23 km/h
_ 23/25 km/h
_ 25/27 km/h
_ 27/30 km/h
More than 30 km/h
- The finish line cut-off is 40 hours after the start in Bordeaux, this translates into an average speed (stops included) of a minimum 16.5 km/h (If you believe that you will not respect or better this minimum speed YOU SHOULD NOT enter this event).
- The finish line control point will close at 23.00 (CEST) Sarturday 25 May
- You are only permitted to receive assistance from persons other than the organisers or their appointees, at the official checkpoints. Friends and family travelling as support in vehicles must follow an identified separate route, that takes in the checkpoints, to that for the cyclists.
– 330 km –
Muscle bikes or electric bikes
The short, introductory formula for a taste of the Bordeaux-Paris atmosphere, a real sporting challenge with timekeeping and tracking.
Departure from Châteauroux at 16:00 on Friday 24 May 2024.
Allow 8? hours for the race in night-time conditions (lighting equipment compulsory).
Objective: to be a finisher as quickly as possible, respecting the course and validating your passage at the intermediate base in Blois.
Key information
- 330km (route and mileage subject to change depending on the final route)
- Elevation gain: 1500m/d+ (may vary slightly depending on the final route)
- 1 solid and liquid feed in Blois (Loir-et-Cher) + finish snack
- Bikes accepted: standard road bike, recumbent bike, electric-assist bike (specific category)
- Starting in waves, as per your expected average speed (stops included) within 6 different start gates, as follows
_ Less than 20 km/h
_ 20/23 km/h
_ 23/25 km/h
_ 25/27 km/h
_ 27/30 km/h
More than 30 km/h - Time limit: 9pm maximum in Paris (to be considered a finisher)
This means that your average pace must be at least 16.5 km/h (breaks included). - Closing of finish control Saturday 25 May 2024 – 21:00 (subject to change).
- Personal assistance possible EXCLUSIVELY at the official check-point.
Itinerary for following vehicles imposed by the organisation and mostly off the official route. - Collection of frame plates and participant kit on Friday 24 May 2024 from 11:00 to 16:00 in Châteauroux at the Gaston Petit stadium.
What is included
Official Rider Packs
Riders can collect their packs including their race number upon presentation of formal ID on Friday 20 May 10.00 – 20.00, & Saturday 21 May 05.30 – 09.30. CEST
The welcome pack contains the following:
✅Memento
✅Live Satnav tracker (including 200 € deposit with bank card guarantee prior to the event should the tracker not be returned within 2 weeks of the event and in full working condition), providing the following information throughout the event of,
_ your location at every moment
_ the route you have taken
_ your overall times to each of the checkpoints and to the finish line
_ your own safety (the tracker is equipped with an alert button)
✅GPX file identifying the course (please download as the course will be only partially signposted)
✅Frame number plaque
✅Identification stickers
✅Pre-event briefing
✅Roadbook
✅Feed stations (under cover) with food and hot & cold drink at each of the checkpoints.
Medical assistance is also available at each of the checkpoints
✅2 mini sacks for your personal effects, transported to and available at the,
1 – Mid-course (Châteauroux) checkpoint
2 – Finish
✅Live tracking
✅Free mechanical assistance (replacement spare parts extra) at each checkpoint
✅Free massage at the finish
✅Free, guarded bike parks at the mid-course checkpoint and at the finish
✅Exclusive finisher’s pack with personal mementos of your ride
✅Sweep bus
Optional extras
✅Mid-course sleeping option in the gymnasium in Châteauroux.
✅Cancellation policy
✅Postponement policy
What is not included
✅Accommodation in Bordeaux and Paris before and after the event, nor at any point during the event (See optional extra above for sleeping arrangements in Châteauroux)
✅Travel to and from the event
✅Personal recovery and repatriation accident insurance policy
✅Personal assistance
✅Personal recovery in the event of your abandon during the event (except via the sweep bus)
✅Dispatch of your mini sacks containing your personal effects in the event of your abandon
✅Replacement and charging of batteries for e-bikes
EXTRACTS FROM THE EVENT RULES
“BORDEAUX-PARIS” is a semi-supported ultra-cycling event on open public roads between Bordeaux and Issy-les-Moulineaux. The present rules relate to the event scheduled for the 20, 21 and 22 May 2022. Participants will ride a pre-determined course that they can download in GPX format, passing through mandatory checkpoints within a determined cut-off time.
“BORDEAUX-PARIS” is an individual, timed, semi-supported ultra-cycling event. The objective is to reach the finish line responsibly, respecting the Highway Code and the safety measures imposed by the organisers, as quickly as possible. The GPX format supplied course must be scrupulously followed and participants must pass through each of the official checkpoints.
Being a semi-supported event, participants may not be assisted by persons other than the organisers or those appointed by the organisers at any point on the course except at the official checkpoints / feed stations. Persons accompanying the participants must follow a specific itinerary that is separate to that followed by the cyclists.
Cyclists are responsible for their own equipment, nutrition, and hydration except for at the checkpoints/feed stations.
Checkpoints / feed stations are located approximately every 150 km. You must remain entirely self-sufficient between checkpoints and may not be assisted by family/friends/other persons between checkpoints. However, you may of course, should you want, stop to purchase food, buy a meal, or book accommodation as long as this remains unassisted and entirely of your own volition.
Participants are reminded that they are responsible for the GPS tracker, they must follow the official course as determined by the organisers, as well as being responsible for their own safety, that of other participants and other road users. They are also individually responsible for their own rest and sleep management.
The “BORDEAUX-PARIS” course goes through 9 or 10 départements depending upon the final route determined by the organisers. The organiser’s intention is to be as close as practicably possible to the course raced by the pro peloton in the 80’s.
Participants are reminded that they must, at all times, respect the French Highway Code.
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
Participants must be able to ride, totally self-sufficient, long distances, by day and night.
Being semi-supported implies that participants are capable of being entirely self-sufficient and fully responsible between checkpoints in terms of their nutrition and hydration, that they can deal with flat tyres and other basic mechanical issues, as well as their personal safety.
Ultra-cycling is a dangerous activity, the participant is exposed to a certain number of risks, including, but not limited to, crashes, physical injury, and even death.
The participant hereby accepts irrevocably and without reservation, by virtue of their entry, all the possible risks inherent to this type of event and in particular the risk of road traffic accidents, injury, trauma and fractures and especially head injuries all of which may lead to total or partial, temporary or permanent disability, and also accept the risk of digestive problems, dehydration and damage to their equipment,
The event is only open to cyclists with an excellent physical condition, who have followed a suitable training programme that would enable them to ride at least 300 km every 24 hours, day, and night.
It is understood that each cyclist in “BORDEAUX-PARIS” accepts that these risks exist and are inherent to their participation.
Type of bikes permitted
– Road (standard, gravel, compact, road, fixie, TT)
– Recumbent
– E-bikes (separate category)
EQUIPMENT
“BORDEAUX-PARIS” participants must affix the ID sticker to the FRONT of the helmet and the frame plaque to the FRONT of the bike using the cable ties provided so that both the sticker and plaque are perfectly visible from the front.
To participate, you must, always, carry on your person/bike the mandatory equipment (see below), plus the equipment you personally deem necessary for an ultra-cycling event.
It is important to note that this is only a minimum amount of equipment that each participant should adapt to their own capabilities. It is important not to necessarily choose the lightest equipment to save a few grams, but to choose equipment that you trust and that will provide the very best protection against the elements and riding on open roads. Personal effects and equipment can be offloaded into the mini sacks provided by the organisers for recovery at the mid-course point and/or finish line.
Mandatory equipment, to be carried at all times:
- SATNAV tracking chip (provided for the event by the organisers)
- Bike computer / smart phone with GPX file route navigation feature, charging (external battery etc.) capability
- Approved (to safety norms) bike helmet with chin strap
- Gloves
- 1 rain/wind jacket, if possible, Gore-Tex or similar
- Hi-Viz cycling jacket / gilet or jersey
- 1 Hi-Viz reflective element (e.g., 3M tape) stuck to the front of the bike
- 1 Hi-Viz reflective element (e.g., 3M tape) stuck to the rear of the bike
- Front bike constant light (in working order)
- Rear bike constant light &/or pulse mode (in working order)
- Headlamp attached to the front of the helmet
- Puncture repair kit (sufficient for repairing 2 punctures) including pump, patches, glue/sealant, tyre levers and spare inner tubes
- Mobile phone with unlimited access to the French mobile network
- Thermal space blanket
- Water bottles / hydration pack of at least 1.5 litres of water/liquids
- Sufficient nutrition for at least 150km of cycling
- ID
- Bank card &/or cash (euros)
Highly recommended equipment:
- Multitool
- Sun cream, Vaseline, or similar, chamois cream
- Chain lubricant
- 4 spare spokes
- Spoke key or multitool including spoke key
- A spare pair of rim pads or disc pads (as per your bike’s braking system)
- Pharmacy
- Leg warmers
ENTRIES
We recommend that you register for the event using the official website, www.bordeaux-paris.com, that includes a secure bank card payment facility.
The minimum age to ride “BORDEAUX-PARIS” is 18, in other words, to participate you need to have been born before 20/05/2006.
For your entry to be valid, you must upload, on to the organiser’s server, the following documents before 13 May 2024,
✅a valid medical certificate, dated within the last year as at 20/05/2022 that includes a specific clause stating no known reason that would prevent the cyclist from participating in an ultra-cycling event. We strongly advise riders to use our official medical certificate (also in English).
✅a certificate of personal accident insurance that also includes recovery and repatriation from the event to your home.
✅to have read, understood and agreed to abide by all the regulations, without exception.
A rider’s entry is deemed to be official upon receipt of an email from the event organiser confirming their entry.
Please note that your entry is firm and definitive. You cannot request a reimbursement for whatever reason unless you have taken out the cancellation guarantee.
Every entry is personal, it is strictly forbidden to transfer your entry to another person for whatever reason, and if found to be the case, the person making the transfer will be held personally responsible for any damage or accident arising or caused by the recipient of the transferred entry. All recipients receiving the transferred entry of another person will be automatically disqualified from the event. The organisers decline all responsibility in the event of an accident due to this type of situation.