Nantes - Bonn 2013
On 21 July 2013, 25 cyclists aged between 12 and 67 set off from Nantes to cycle back to Bonn in 7 days. The first four days were flat along the beautiful Loire river. Mostly on cycle paths, the cyclists passed the world-famous Loire castles of Saumur, Chenonceau, Amboise, Chaumont, Blois and Chambord. The journey along the Loire ended in Orléans. From there the cyclists transferred either by car or by train to the capital of champagne - Reims.
Three mountain stages through the Ardennes and the Eifel followed. On the 5th day the hardest stage was on the agenda: 186 km peppered with numerous steep and long ascents. A total of more than 2,000 metres in ascemt had to be overcome. The stage ended in Champlon in Belgium. The 6th day also had many ascents to offer. However, the stage was much shorter at 117 km. It led through Belgium, Luxembourg back to Germany and ended in Gerolstein. On day 6 the cyclists also crossed the highest elevation of the tour. It was 568 m about 6 km behind Prüm in the Eifel. On the 7th day the tour went mostly downhill from Gerolstein through the Ahr valley back to the Marktplatz in Bonn. Except for 3 hours of rain on day 5 we had first class weather throughout. All cyclists survived the tour unharmed and in a great mood. The routes can be viewed and downloaded here.
Route plan Route 2013
- 21 Jul Nantes, FR - Angers, FR | 113 km
- 22 Jul Angers, FR - Tours, FR | 136 km
- 23 Jul Tours, FR - Blois, FR | 82 km
- 24 Jul Blois, FR - Châteauneuf-Sur-Loire, FR | 100 km
- Châteauneuf-Sur-Loire, FR - Reims, FR | Bus transfer
- 25 Jul Reims, FR - Champlon, BE | 180 km
- 26 Jul Champlon, BE - Gerolstein, DE | 116 km
- 27 Jul Gerolstein, DE - Bonn, DE | 102 km
- Total Kilometers = 829 km
