AN ICON PUT TO REST
The Trans-Provence is a mythical beast: an event formed in the mists of enduro history, before stage racing as we know it today was dreamt up. Even in 2019, there’s really no comparison. The TP concept was birthed in 2008 from the minds of Ash and Melissa Smith, a couple with English roots who transplanted into the European Alps where their wild ideas were free to bloom like an edelweiss.
Their concept: take a hundred gullible mountain bikers, sprinkle in a healthy dose of professional level riders, and shepherd them on a six-day journey from Barcelonnette high in the Haute-Alpes of France, through the Maritime Alps, to Menton on the French coast. You read that right, six days! Twenty-four enduro stages, 20,000 metres of descending, 10,000 metres of climbing, with the remainder of ascent assisted by eleven CoolBus shuttle vans. Move a full camp of individual tents five times, cook and serve world class cuisine breakfasts and dinners, with lunches in roadside
