17/08/2018

Welcome to Pau: The French city of cycling

The Haute Route Pyrenees 2018 opened its doors at 10am this morning with the cutting of the ceremonial ribbon by Christian Laine, Vice-president of the Pau Agglomeration Community, opening the event village and welcoming riders to Pau in the process.

Starting with a 148km stage around Pau tomorrow, the 2018 Haute Route Pyrenees welcomes 350 riders from all across the globe for a total of 770km and 20’000M of climbing over seven timed and ranked stages.

Opening the press conference with warm welcoming message, Christian Laine was delighted to get the partnership between the city of Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantique department and the Haute Route underway: “We are thrilled to welcome the Haute Route for both the Grand Départ and Arrivée in the Pyrenees this year,” he said, “this is the beginning of a great partnership between our region and the Haute Route”.

Also speaking at the press conference, race director Jean-François Alcan expressed his gratitude towards the city and gave a taste of what was to come this week: “we are extremely grateful towards the city of Pau and the Pyrénées-Atlantique department for welcoming us,” he said, “I am delighted to be able to showcase their stunning region to our international peloton of riders all week with some beautiful and demanding stages.”

The atmosphere in the event village was a mix of excitement and anticipation as riders assembled to collect their bib and riders pack before visiting the partner stands on the esplanade of the Palais Beaumont.

Travelling to Pau from Hong Kong for her first Haute Route, Wynnie Fung was looking forward to her first taste of Haute Route action tomorrow morning: “I have some friends who did the Haute Route Alps and Pyrenees in the past and motivated me to sign up this summer,” she explained, “the scenery and the climbing helped motivate me as well, my aim is just to finish and to go at my own pace”.

Over a third of the peloton will be riding their first Haute Route this week and will get a taste of the professional cyclist lifestyle thanks to the wide range of services both on and off the bike. From the pre-stage briefings, secured roads and mechanical support from Mavic, to the medical support, feed stations, post-stage meals, massages and cryotherapy with Tag Heuer, riders will get to focus solely on their riding and benefit from an unrivalled level of services all week long.

Returning for his fourth Haute Route, Lorenzo Brown from the USA was looking forward to riding in the Pyrenees for the second time, before taking on the Alps next week in the Iron challenge: “I love riding on the same roads as the pros, it’s just that thing to know I’m suffering on the same roads as the pros,” he said, “the Haute Route is perfect for us Americans travelling to Europe, it’s really well organised and it’s the most challenging and the closest to the pro experience we can get”.

Another experienced Haute Route rider Stephanie Stacul from Nice was excited to get the week underway: “the incredible scenery really motivated me to come and ride in the Pyrenees this year,” she said, “the route is beautiful and the support is second to none so I can’t wait to get started”.

After getting all the information for the week at this evening’s safety briefing at the Théatre Saint-Louis, riders were able enjoy the traditional Pasta Party where they were able to get some valuable carbohydrates in their system and meet some of their fellow riders.

Setting off from the Palais Beaumont at 7:30 tomorrow morning, the first stage will take riders over the Col de Labays and Bouesou before the final ascent of the day over the renowned and stunning Marie-Blanque and returning to the finish line in Pau.

Follow the action live all week on our social media pages below or on the website.