← All eventsL'Ardechoise Cyclosportif
230km French cyclosportif with 4,585m climbing across 10 named ascensions. Saint-Felicien, central Massif Central / Cevennes. Established 1990, ~13,800 average riders. Mid-mountain rolling-with-attitude — relentless climbing, no long flats.
Not one big alpine col but ten. L'Ardechoise stacks 4,585m of climbing across ten named ascensions in 230km, through the volcanic mid-mountains of the Ardeche, out of Saint-Felicien in mid-June.
This is rolling-with-attitude, not alpine. The climbs run five to fifteen minutes each, and the flat between them barely exists. Burn matches early and there is no recovery before the next arrives.
Reckon on eight to thirteen hours in the saddle, often in real June heat. It rewards the rider who rations effort, not the one who attacks the first climb.
Is L'Ardechoise Cyclosportif for you?
- Riders who pace by the long game. With ten climbs and no flats, the day rewards rationing effort over hours, not attacking the first ascent.
- Diesel engines with sweet-spot durability. The defining quality is holding 80 to 88% FTP for hours, not a ten-minute KOM.
- Anyone comfortable in the heat. June in southern France can hit 30C in the valleys, and a hot 230km is a different beast.
- Long-day endurance riders. Eight to thirteen hours in the saddle asks for a deep aerobic base, not sharp-end speed.
Training plan for L'Ardechoise Cyclosportif
A training plan for L'Ardechoise Cyclosportif isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- 4,585m of climbing spread across ten separate ascents in 230km
- Climbs of five to fifteen minutes, back to back, with almost no flat to recover on
- Eight to thirteen hours in the saddle depending on your level
- June valley heat, often 20 to 30C, layered on top of the climbing load
- Long sweet spot: 60 to 90min at 88 to 94% FTP inside a 3hr ride, your core race pace
- Long hill repeats: 6 to 8 x 6 to 8min on a real climb at 90 to 95% FTP for multi-climb tolerance
- Big climbing day: 5 to 6hr ride with 8 to 10 climb efforts at sweet spot as course rehearsal
- Back-to-back weekend: 4 to 5hr Saturday plus 3 to 4hr Sunday for cumulative fatigue
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
