Le Championnat du CanigouMonth AugustLocation Vernet-les-Bains – deep in the Pyrenees (the eastern part, towards the Mediterranean)Distance 30K Why do it At the turn of the century, the locals from Vernet-les-Bains were in the habit of climbing

provides ‘special’ feeding stations, with regional specialities, including wine and muscat, while you visit the old town and its surroundings, which lies between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. An Italian evening and cabaret on the evening prior

for loose gravel on the shoulders, or potholes or cracks. I recently took a group on a descent in the Pyrenees where Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after crashing in the 1995 Tour de France. After gazing at his memorial, I pointed out the shaded areas

, or it can be a couple of long weekends at home, if planned properly.I write this during my fourth training camp of the year, 7000ft up in the Pyrenees at Font Romeu. This is high level training in every sense of the world, as most of the group are preparing

suspected.By 2003 she was being coached by Margo Jennings and altitude training in the Pyrenees with Mozambique’s Maria Mutola, who was both friend and rival. Cruelly, her Olympic injury issues returned, this time with far more serious ramifications

pedal pushing, but from a lean frame. If you carry too much weight, gravity pulls you backward. A Kenyan 10,000m runner on a bike might perform quite well in the Pyrenees, but the same Kenyan would be crushed in the time trials, which demand brute power