Tour des Stations challenges you to Everest in one day!
Tour des Stations launches a new challenge to its riders: to climb the Everest in one day, that's 8,848 metres or 29,029 feet - better start training!
Indeed, for its 4th edition, the Ultrafondo course is developing to offer a positive difference in height of 8848m, the altitude of the highest peak in the world. The organizers of Tour des Stations wanted to offer a mythical challenge to its riders. Its participants will be able to tackle the difference in altitude of Everest in a single day, over 242km.
To do so, the magnificent ascent of Mayens-de-la-Zour (1360m), located in the commune of Savièse, will complete the Ultrafondo route in the next edition. The courses Marmotte Granfondo (132km - 4700mD+) and Mediofondo (73km - 2850mD+) remain unchanged, still linking Le Châble and Verbier.
Editor says - "I'd rather fly over and look out the window at this on my to Geneva!"
There's a new e-bike route too!
The electric bicycle is on the upswing and its users are more and more numerous every year. To meet this trend and a lot of requests, a new route for electric bikes (73km - 2000mD+) will be set up and will allow the same experience as the sports routes, also climbing the Lein and Croix-de-Coeur passes. In the form of a gourmet stroll, this route will appeal to a wide public with its refreshment stands highlighting local produces.
VIDEO: TDS 2020 - the Aftermovie
3 Million Euro impact for Tourism in the region in 2020
On Saturday 8th August 2020, a total of 1,500 cyclists took part in one of the three courses at the start in Le Châble to reach Verbier. The safety measures had been rethought to enhance the safety of participants and volunteers. Doubling its efforts, Tour des Stations was able to maintain its 3rd edition, which once again proved to be a great success. At the dawn of its 4th edition, Tour des Stations has already established itself as a cyclosportive reference in Switzerland and abroad with more than 30 different nationalities at the start of the race. In 2020, the organisation has noticed an increase of the average length of stay for Swiss (2.5 nights) and foreigners (3.5 nights), as well as of the expenses for accommodation and activities (more than CHF 200.- / day per person). In all, the stakeholders' expenditure generated a total economic impact of 3 millions for the region and the canton of Valais.
The Next Edition is Saturday August 7th 2021
Registration for the 2021 edition is now open on www.tourdesstations.ch. The first 500 participants will benefit of special rates. A new Maxi Flex option has been introduced which allows you to change courses, pass on your race number to another person or postpone your registration to the following year until the last moment in order to be prepared for any eventuality.
Grégory Saudan, Tour des Stations President said, "We are very proud to be able to transpose this mythical challenge that is the ascent of Everest, to the scale of the Valais and thus offer an exceptional challenge to our riders. We thus carry the message that it is possible to climb the equivalent of the highest mountain in the world in a single day in our Valais mountains. It is a strong message and we are convinced once again of its reach beyond our borders. Everest is an emblem known to all of us, which will strengthen our position as the toughest race in the world and will anchor Tour des Stations even more as an iconic and unique race".
Nadège Fischer, Tour des Stations Operations Manager commented, "This third edition has allowed us to confirm already the attachment of people to our young event. In spite of a difficult sanitary context, the riders and their entourage didn't hesitate to travel to Valais to participate in the Tour des Stations under the strict sanitary conditions we had set up. At the same time, the majority of the participants took advantage of spending several days in our various Valais resorts. The results of our economic impact study show that the Swiss have significantly increased the length of their stay and their daily expenses compared to the previous year. Edition after edition, these figures show us the importance of such events for the economic, social and media life of Valais".
The Tour des Stations is an exceptional sporting challenge linking the resorts of the Valais region in the grandiose environment that characterizes it. This challenge meets the characteristics of the Marmotte Granfondo Series and SwissCycling Top Tour: distance (242km, 133km, 74km or 34km), difficulty (8'848mD +, 4'700mD +, 2'850mD + or 1'950mD +), and non-category passes, including Thyon 2000 at 2'090m and the Croix-de-Cœur culminating at 2'174m.
The event is distinguished by offering a unique challenge in the world: "To compete in one day against the drop of Everest".
The routes cross the enchanting landscapes of Valais, from the vineyards to the high mountains, natural pastures, small authentic villages and internationally recognized resorts. The event aims to anchor itself as the benchmark Granfondo cycling race in Switzerland, like the Marmotte Alpes in France and the Marathon des Dolomites in Italy.
