2012 – 2022
10 YEARS OF TRANS-SAVOIE
AFTER 10 YEARS, THE LAST EVER TRANS-SAVOIE ENDURO RACE WAS IN AUGUST 2022
We made the tough call after 10 superb years packed full of amazing memories, because wanted to have more time to get back to where it all started over 20 years ago as MTB guides at trailAddiction.
From 2023 we will focus only on guiding epic weeks of adventure across the Savoie, and in doing so, spending more time tyre-to-tyre sharing our favourite spots on a personal level, with riders from all over the world. The Trans-Savoie event website remains live as a testimony to those 10 great years, and to give future guided-tour riders a flavour of the adventure they are about to enjoy for themselves. Please enjoy the site, or read a superb article by MBR Magazine (2022) about the history of the Trans-Savoie Race.
A MULTI-DAY ADVENTURE COMBINING NATURAL ALPINE TERRAIN WITH SKI-LIFT ASSISTED LIAISON
The Trans-Savoie 50/50 is an epic adventure open to experienced amateur riders, on Analogue & E-Bikes, traversing some of the best mountain bike singletrack in the Alps.
Over six days, 50 riders from all corners of the globe will come together near the French/Italian border to share an epic adventure. One that forges new friendships and leaves intense memories that last a lifetime. In addition to the 50/50 event itself, small-group guided tours (following the same route), are available exclusively through trailAddiction – accompanied by Trans-Savoie founder & guide, Ali Jamieson. Join either as an individual, or form a private group of friends.
More of a High Alpine Expedition than an out-and-out race, if you are ready for the 2-wheeled adventure of your life, this could be what you’ve been looking for. Returning in 2021 after a 5-year break in a brand-new format, the Trans-Savoie Fifty-Fifty has even been defined by some who have taken part, as ‘the best thing they ever did on a bike‘.
To be very clear to those of you currently having a testosterone overload just at the mere thought of it – the new 50/50 format is not a race. But of course, there will be plenty of challenge and ample opportunity for a spot of friendly rivalry. (Read more about the 50/50 format here).
Participants cram in more riding in one week of Trans-Savoie, than in an entire EWS race season and all on pristine single track to a backdrop of high alpine pastures and snow-capped peaks. But unlike most other Trans-style events, we use a route that benefits from the Savoie region’s highly efficient ski-lift system in addition to our own vehicle shuttles, and in doing so we are able to offer an experience with around twice the amount of gravity-assisted singletrack for the same amount of climbing when compared to similar enduro-rally-style events events.
Essential Info:
- Savoie, French Alps
- Limited to only 50 Entries:
- 25 E-Bike / 25 Regular Bike
- Dormitory & Tent accommodation
- All Meals, shuttles & lift-passes included
The Itinerary
Trans-Savoie 50/50 is designed to be accessible to any ‘serious’ mountain biker, but in a format that will still challenge even the hardcore of adventurers.
The event is possible only by drawing on our collective knowledge of 20 years of guiding experience in the Savoie region. A continued passion for extracting only the very best routes from within an almost infinite trail network of unrealised possibilities is a vision that has been many years in the making, and indeed continues to evolve with each new edition of the Trans-Savoie.
By selecting a route that uniquely links together the rapid mechanical uplift potential of the region’s extensive ski-lift system, this event stands-out on it’s statistics alone. This format allows access to a route that quite simply would not be logistically possible, by any other means of access or transport.
Each day of adventure is carefully crafter to level the playing field between traditional bike and e-bike, with just the right balance of uplift, ski-lift, and ascent vs descent.
Adopting a rally-style format, the route consists of several downhill-biased stages each day (typically 5 to 6) with a total daily on-stage descent of an astonishing 4000-5000 vertical metres covering a distance of 35-65 Km (including lifts & shuttles). Yet the average climb-per-day sits at ‘only’ 800m to 1200m vertical. Just enough to get through the day on one battery (in eco- or trail- mode) if you’re on an e-bike. The terrain is a blend of open and exposed high-alpine and lower-level forrested singletrack…a mixture of tight & technical, fast and flowing, rocky and rooty, and often exposed.
Forget hours of hike-a-bike, sitting in a van, or grinding up fire-roads between stages. The Trans-Savoie is about enjoying the most challenging and spectacular singletrack there is…..to the backdrop of Mt Blanc and other epic peaks that dominate the Savoie region.
This fully-supported event passes through remote and dramatic scenery each day, yet returns to some of the Alps finest biking destination hubs each evening for daily de-briefing, great food, and refreshments in a buzzing, sociable atmosphere. Whilst we are all about the backcountry, we like our occasional creature comforts too. The 50/50 is about striking the right balance, and fortunately, we’ve think we’ve come up with an event format where you don’t have to chose one or the other.
Click through to our other pages for more detail about The New 50/50 Format and The Route you will follow each day. If you’re not yet ready to jump right in just yet, why not consider a trailAddiction guided tour instead? Options are available from a full-scale point-to-point tour along this year’s Trans-Savoie route, to more bespoke options including for those on a budget that doesn’t stretch to 4-figures.
Alternatively, for those of you short on time and keen to race (but not lacking in adventurous spirit) – we’ve created the Enduro2 Global Series. Check it out!
