Be a London-Paris by Tour de France Gravel Pioneer
- Mar 2022
Be a London to Paris by Tour de France Gravel Pioneer!
The 2022 London to Paris by Tour de France by gravel is going to be an amazing event. If you’ve ridden the course on road before and fancy trying something new, or are completely new to our events and want the kudos of being able to say that you did it first – we’ve got an epic experience waiting for you.
With more people than ever before making the conversion from road to gravel, it’s no surprise that the majority of our events are gravel or have a gravel option. From the Suisse Gravel Explorer to the gravel London to Paris by Tour de France, we’re loving the rough stuff! Read more about our off-road heritage below.
Hotchillee’s Gravel Heritage
Hotchillee Head Honcho Sven Thiele was first exposed to “gravel” in 2015 on a trip to the Netherlands with Gerard Vroomen and Andy Kessler – true cycling pioneers and innovators. He came back a convert (zealot) and, before gravel was even really a thing, was planning ambitious Hotchillee gravel events.
This culminated in the RainMaker RollerCoaster – an epic 7-day gravel stage race across South Africa’s Western Cape and a first of its kind. Hotchillee’s “groadies” also tackled the trails, river crossings and passes of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains.
Even with COVID curtailing travel, local Surrey trails, the Peak District and the Ridgeway were all given the Hotchillee gravel treatment. The London Great Gravel Escape proved that, if you know where to look, there’s traffic free cycling to be found even in the Capital.
Sharing the start and finish
You’ll roll-out of Imber Court in Surrey with the road ride, so won’t miss out on the buzz and excitement of the big day but you’ll quickly leave the tarmac behind. You won’t then see the roadies again until Stage 3 when you’ll meet-up with them for the final 50km rolling closed roads run-in to Paris. In between you’ll have had a unique and amazing gravel adventure.
How hard is it?
There’s no denying that they’re big off-road days but, as long as you have a decent level of cycling fitness, you don’t need to be an experienced “groadie”. It’s genuinely a “gravel” route so you won’t be needing any mad off-road skills.
The route
Over the three stages, you’ll be covering approximately 350km with 2250m of ascent.
Unlike other “gravel” London to Paris rides, you won’t just be riding the Avenue Verte. Our route is unique, genuine gravel and 80% off-road.
You can check out these blogs of our recce rides.
https://www.hotchillee.com/the-off-road-to-paris-recce-part-1/
https://www.hotchillee.com/the-off-road-to-paris-recce-part-2/
A pro-level gravel experience
Enjoy the pro-level support of a Hotchillee experience on gravel! You’ll be accompanied by Hotchillee Ride Captains, have roving mechanical support, plenty of opportunities for bidon refills and snacks and, of course, great trail-side lunch-stops and overnight stays. All you’ll have to focus on is enjoying the rolling trails and miles and miles of endless gravel fun.
Sign-up now
Places are limited so sign-up today.
