Dragon Ride L'Etape Wales by
Le Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists o ...
is a cyclosportive event based in South Wales, UK.
The event is a non competitive cycling marathon run over the hills of
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
and the
Brecon Beacons National Park
The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain ...
. The ride takes in the challenging climbs of the
Bwlch
Bwlch (meaning ''a pass'' in Welsh) is a small village and an electoral ward in Powys, southern Wales. The settlement is strung out along the A40 road which crosses a low col above the Usk Valley at this point on its route between Brecon and Cr ...
and
Rhigos
Rhigos () is a small village on the saddle of higher ground between the Vale of Neath and the Cynon Valley. It was part of the old Neath Rural district Council under Glamorgan until 1974. The village then came under the jurisdiction of The Cynon ...
mountain roads which are long with relatively constant gradients. The event has different courses to suit riders ability, these are the 'Dragon Devil' at , the Gran Fondo at , the Medio Fondo at and the Macmillan 100 at {{convert, 100, km.
The Dragon Ride is held annually in June. Entries are available from September via the event website. Traditionally the event sells out within weeks of the entries becoming available.
Cyclosportive
A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually. The Italian term '' Gran Fondo'' is commonly used for these events in the United States, Australia and so ...
s are a recent addition to the UK, although these types of events have been popular in Italy, France and Spain.
History
In 2004 the first Dragon Ride was held, this being at the time one of only a handful of such events in Great Britain. The format of the Dragon Ride was based on an Italian Gran Fondo, although unlike Italian events it was not held on closed roads. Event organiser Lou Lusardi, whose family originated from the Parma area of Italy, had taken part in several Gran Fondo and saw an opportunity to bring this type of event to South Wales. An organising team of friends and relatives was set up under the BreakAway Cycling banner. Based in
Bridgend
Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...
, the first "Dragon" had 280 entrants. Recent editions had over 5,000 entrants.
In 2005 the Dragon Ride became the first UK cyclosportive to be included into the UCI calendar. The popularity of the inaugural event and the demand for this type of cycling challenge saw the Dragon Ride more than double in size each year between 2004 and 2006; a continual growth over the following years saw the 2010 event with 3700 entrants, the largest for any UK open road sportive. In 2007 the Dragon Ride linked up with the
Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycletour in Cape Town South Africa and the
Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge
The Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge is New Zealand's largest mass participation cycling event. First held in 1977, it takes place on the last Saturday of each November and circumnavigates Lake Taupo, a volcanic crater lake in the centre of the Nort ...
in New Zealand to cross promote and share resources.
Pencoed
Pencoed ( cy, Pen-coed) is a urbanised community and town in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. It straddles the M4 motorway north east of Bridgend and is situated on the Ewenny River. At the 2011 census it had a population of around 9,166.
...
, situated a few miles east of Bridgend became the venue for the start and finish of the ride from 2008, the new location provided more space and was situated only a mile from junction 35 of the
M4 Motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...
. Since 2012 the start and finish is at
Margam Park
Margam Country Park is a country park estate in Wales, of around 850 acres (3.4 km²). It is situated in Margam, about 2 miles (3 km) from Port Talbot in south Wales. It was once owned by the Mansel Talbot family and is now owned and ...
near
Port Talbot
Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...
.
The Dragon Ride organisers have introduced various innovations. The event was the first to use online entries, with riders numbers and timing transponders posted out in the weeks prior to the event. In 2010 a totally disposable timing chip was introduced eliminating the need for riders to hand back their transponder at the end of the ride.
BreakAway Cycling sold the rights of the Dragon Ride to Participate Sports, (now Human Race) in December 2012.
In 2016, through a partnership with Tour de France organisers,
Amaury Sport Organisation
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) is part of the French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury. It organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well as golf, running, sailing and off-road motorsport events. The president of ASO is Je ...
, the event became part of the L'Etape UK series of official Tour de France sportives and was renamed Dragon Ride L'Etape Wales by Le Tour de France.
References
Dragon Ride website
External links
Cape Argus Pick N Pay Cycletour Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge UCI Golden Bike Series
Cycling in Wales