August 3, 2021 - (Tignes & Val d’Isère) A Round of applause for the first edition of the Tignes-Val d’Isère E-Bike Festival, which brought 1,072 e-bikers to discover the Haute Tarentaise’s best rides specially developed for this discipline.
The biggest industry-leading brands, including Haibike, Bosch, Commencal, Lapierre, Specialized, Canyon, Moustache, Flyer, Husqvarna, and Beeq, provided nearly 400 e-bikes for participants to test in Tignes and Val d’Isère.
Clearly, the two Savoyard resorts have achieved their goal of stimulating summer tourism through developing an infrastructure entirely dedicated to e-bikes (routes, recharging stations, etc.), as well as events similar to this one.
There was something on offer for all tastes, including e-bike tests, Rando Gourmande, Discovery Trails for all levels, and the enduro e-races. The first edition of the E-Tour de Haute Tarentaise attracted the discipline’s professionals and, the following day, some of the elite riders even lined up for the start of the Bosch e-MTB Challenge, an enduro race that rounded off the event this Sunday.
The elite E-Tour de Haute Tarentaise race, a UCI-affiliated race in the E-Mountain Bike Cross-country Marathon category, welcomed a large field of competitors.
After two days of competition on the trails between Tignes, Val d’Isère, Sainte-Foy Tarentaise, Séez, Montvalezan, and Bourg St-Maurice, it was the 2019 and 2020 E-MTB Cross-country French Champion Jérôme Gilloux (FRA) who won this first edition, followed by Hugo Pigeon (FRA) and the New Zealander Charles Murray.
“I had never done a marathon-format e-bike race before, and I really enjoyed it. The trails are more natural and much more technical. I hope I’ll be able to take part in the next stage of the E-Tour du Mont Blanc [during the Verbier E-Bike Festival in 15 days], but it is a week before the E-Bike Cross-country World Championships, so I need to be sure I’ll be able to recover and stay on top. In any case, the desire to do both is there,” says Gilloux.
- Jérôme Gilloux (FRA) in 6:52:44
- Hugo Pigeon (FRA) in 6:57:24
- Charles Murray (NZL) in 7:14:37
Complete results are available here.
After winning the 2020 edition of the E-Tour du Mont Blanc during the Verbier E-Bike Festival with her teammate Nadine Sapin, it was the event’s local Léa Deslandes (FRA) who won in front of Nadine Sapin (FRA) and Switzerland’s Nathalie Schneitter, 2019 E-MTB Cross-country World Champion.
“I had a good lead after the first day, but I kept on giving it everything on the second stage because we are never safe from problems in this format [of race]. Riding these sorts of trails in the high mountains is perfect for e-bikes, and it pushes us to our limits, physical, technical, and mechanical. I didn’t think I would be able to win, I am delighted, and I can’t wait to defend our title with Nadine on the E-Tour du Mont Blanc,” explains Deslandes.
- Léa Deslandes (FRA) in 8:00:12
- Nadine Sapin (FRA) in 8:27:21
- Nathalie Schneitter (SUI) in 8:36:48
Complete results are available here.
Read more about the E-Bike World Tour here.
