Haute Route Crans-Montana
Riding Days
4
Number of Nights
3
Total Distance
~200 km
Total Climbing
~7,450 metres
Difficulty
4/5
At a Glance
Haute Route Crans-Montana 2023 - AN ADVENTURE BRIMMING WITH LOFTY SWISS SUMMITS
Take the opportunity to discover the authentic Swiss ski resort, Crans-Montana. A true adventure, the 2023 course includes one of the finest passes in Switzerland, the famous Col du Sanetsch, with a distance of 26KM and a difference in altitude of 1690M.
Plus, the course will take you through the winding ascents of Barrage de Moiry, located at the bottom of the Val d'Anniviers, where temperatures are ideal at this time of the year. On the last day, you will set off from the time trial ramp in Sierre, Switzerland's sunniest city, where the ascent of the Col de Crans-Montana awaits.
Tour Highlights
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Asphalt
Ride the ultimate challenge of Haute Route Crans-Montana with the best pro support. You’ll get our pro-level mechanics, soigneurs to bring legs back to life and experienced race leaders to brief you through each day in detail.
Book Tour
€995.00 – €1,950.00
Overview
Haute Route Crans-Montana - About Region
Take on elements of the Tour de Suisse
Experience an adventure brimming with lofty Swiss summits while cycling through vineyards, traditional villages, and gorges typically synonymous with authentic Switzerland.
Haute Route Typical Day
What can I expect my Haute Route experience to look like?
In order to have an idea for a typical day on the Haute Route, we’ve put together the following rough schedule of how a day on the Haute Route unfolds. Don’t forget that your La Fuga team are there to help you through every step of the way so all you have to do is pedal.
Depending on weather conditions and course conditions the La Fuga team will also lay on other stops to aid the change of clothes or additional feeding. This will be communicated to you the evening before.
At the end of each stage, you will find a La Fuga member to welcome you. You will receive a cold drink, recovery snacks, and your finish bag as well as directions to lunch and the location of the hotel, which is normally within a few hundred metres of the finish line.
La Fuga at the Haute Route
Open to a relatively small field of just over 500 riders, the races promote a unique atmosphere of competition and camaraderie. With rider classifications and times posted on a daily basis, leaders jerseys, team prizes and a professional level of support the Haute Route is the closest experience amateur riders will have to a Grand Tour stage race. Whatever you aim for the Haute Route, it is the ultimate challenge for all riders who take their riding seriously and La Fuga will be providing comprehensive support packages to match.
At La Fuga we deliver an unparalleled Haute Route experience. Not only have we sourced the best accommodation for each stage but we will also provide swift transfers between starts and finishes; qualified mechanics and masseurs on hand; fresh riding kit every day; nutritional advice; exclusive refuel/kit drop zones during the race; route guidance and personalised ride strategy. Then at the end of each day there’s always great company and delicious dinners. Ride to your limit every day and get looked after like the Yellow Jersey wearer at the Tour de France by travelling with La Fuga.
We have 10 spots on our Haute Route package. As with all our other trips, we prefer to run trips with smaller groups of riders which lends to a more convivial and relaxed feel on our trips.
At the Haute Route we aim to give our riders the closest experience to being in a professional cycle team as possible; bikes serviced before each stage, bottles ready, refilled and in your cages before the off, next stage briefings each evening, massages every evening. The devil is in the detail and our experienced staff will be on hand at every step of the journey. So all you need to do is ride, relax and escape, and we’ll take care of all the rest!
Details
What's Included
*Meals are included up to a specific budget, after which a supplement will be applied
What's not Included
Itinerary
Your La Fuga guides will meet you at the Geneva airport to collect you and transfer you to the hotel. Our expert mechanic will unpack your bike and give it a thorough check ahead of the event.
You’ll have some lunch before heading over to the Haute Route Davos event village to sign on, collect your numbers and your race pack and meet fellow competitors.
The first official race briefing will take place close to the event village and then it will be time to head back to the hotel to fuel up for the next day stage. Your La Fuga guide will further brief you over dinner on important aspects such as the location of our private feed zones, and run through any other important stage into. Then it’s early to bed, ready for the first stage of Haute Route Crans-Montana race.
The Haute Route Crans-Montana will begin by introducing you to landscapes usually found on a typical Swiss postcard where the Barrage de Moiry awaits. At 148 metres high, the impressive Moiry dam dominates the end of the Vallon de Moiry. But it´s when you reach the top of the dam where the vistas are the most impressive, with a spectacular panorama of the turquoise waters of the Moiry Lake awaiting. The Swiss scenery does not stop here, as you traverse through the dam, you will be led to a dramatic tunnel where beautiful glacial views will take your breath away as you continue upwards to the summit finish at 2,252m. Bringing together the quaint terraced villages, ancient forests, and stark alpine landscapes that Switzerland is renowned for.
The second stage on the Haute Route Crans-Montana means business from the get-go. Starting with a short but challenging climb to Col du Sanetsch, with the first kilometre ramping up to an average gradient of 10.9%. The road winds through beautiful, terraced vineyards towards the village of Erde. Here riders can look forward to catching their breath over five kilometres before the road rises again to an average between 7-10%. A series of steep switchbacks leads out of the forest and into vast open pastures above the tree line.
Leaving the best till last, the third and final stage, is one that will create memories to last a lifetime. Riders will take on the 15-kilometre time trial up to Col de Crans-Montana. This short but spicy climb will offer breathtaking views of the beautiful Chateau Mercier as you head towards a road off the beaten track, surrounded by vineyards.
This climb offers little respite, so make sure to pace your effort whilst hunting down the riders in front and racing against the clock. You will reach the hardest kilometre (10.4% average gradient) before Aminona. Still, after this, you can look forward to leaving the forest and taking in the panoramic views of the peaks of the Valais. This is a fitting backdrop and a breath-taking end to your Swiss cycling experience as you grind over the final few kilometres before crossing the line as a finisher of Haute Route Crans-Montana.
Accommodation
Stay in the heart of Crans-Montana.
In a warm alpine style, the Olympic hotel invites you to relax in the heart of the Valais mountains in Switzerland.
Located in the centre of Montana.
Le Mayen restaurant will make you discover or rediscover a selection of regional dishes, and the Amadeus Bar, located in the basement of the hotel, will welcome you to experience memorable evenings in a festive atmosphere.