The Brecon Beacons were sprinkled with Tour de France magic - and a little Welsh rain - this weekend as 5,000 cyclists lined up for the 14th edition of the legendary Dragon Ride.
Margam Park, near Port Talbot, once again played host on Sunday to the eager cyclists who had managed to secure a place at this year's sold out Dragon Ride L'Étape Wales by Le Tour de France. Among the UK's toughest sportive challenges, the Dragon Ride provides amateur cyclists with an opportunity to tackle one of four routes through the peaks and valleys of the Brecon Beacons.
Ranging in distance from 100km (62 miles) to 300km (186 miles), the routes include a number of the region's famous climbs, including Bwlch, Rhigos, Devil's Elbow, Black Mountain and Devil's Staircase. For nearly 600 of those taking part, Sunday was the culmination of the Dragon Tour, that had seen them ride over 100km of the region's most picturesque roads on both Friday and Saturday. Among them was Sportive.com's Laura Delnevo - look out for her report on an epic weekend's cycling coming soon.
For the second time, the Dragon Ride was part of the global 'L'Étape' series of official Tour de France sportives. Ahead of their ride, entrants were offered recorded good luck messages from three-time Tour de France winner, Chris Froome, as well as local hero and Team Sky rider, Luke Rowe. On the day itself, Margam Park was transformed into a Tour de France-style event village, with a number of Tour de France activities available for participants to enjoy. After finishing, riders relaxed in front of a big screen showing live coverage of the Critérium du Dauphiné professional race.
Didi Senft, the Tour's famous red devil, was positioned on the Devil's Elbow to cheer on riders as they took on the closed-road, timed climb. Steven Green took the KOM on the one kilometre ascent, with its average gradient of 9.8% with a time of four minutes and eight seconds, while the title of Queen of the Mountain went to Emma Frost with a time of five minutes and thirty-four seconds. Both were awarded a Tour de France, polka dot, climbers jersey signed by Chris Froome as well as entry into next month's L'Étape du Tour.
Didi was joined on Devil's Elbow by a group of supporters from Dragon Ride L'Étape Wales' official charity, Macmillan Cancer Support. Riders are anticipated to have raised £120,000 via this year's event. Fundraisers were rewarded for their efforts with refreshments and post-ride massages.
André Quentel, Deputy CEO of Tour de France organisers, ASO, travelled from Paris to take part in the 230km Gran Fondo distance. After crossing the finishing line he commented: "I had the pleasure of riding Dragon Ride L'Étape Wales for the first time today. I have worked on both professional and amateur cycling events for many years, and yet this truly was a unique event.
The Welsh landscapes are fabulous, the challenge is very tough, the organisation is excellent, while the Tour de France experiences add some real magic. The atmosphere amongst the riders out on the road was electric. See you all next year in Wales!"
A pre-sale of entries for next year's Dragon Ride L'Étape Wales by Le Tour de France, as well as the Dragon Tour, will take place for 48 hours from 10am on Monday 12th June. This will allow riders to beat the annual rush for places that sees thousands of entries sold in a single day when the event is officially launched in the autumn.
The 2018 event will take place on Sunday 10th June and will again start and finish at Margam Park. To secure a place, visit www.letapeuk.co.uk/
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