93


Left Eddy Merckx in conversation with British former pro cyclist Adam Blythe. Opposite page The Belgian in 1969, on his way to the first of five overall Tour de France victories


deficit of 3,000 calories; replenishing that is all part of the fun. But there’s more to LeBlanq than cycling


and eating. The company’s events are decid- edly luxurious. On our weekend sojourn to France we are staying at the Royal Cham- pagne Hotel & Spa, replete with its pillow menus, Hermès toiletries and a beautiful pool that overlooks a vista of vine-striped slopes. Clarke, Palmer-Watts and their team have thought of everything: there is a specially- produced cycling kit provided to all members of the group, which will be laundered over- night; there are former professional cyclists to lead the rides; there is a mechanic on hand to clean and service bicycles before placing them on a rack outside the hotel lobby in the morning, ready to go; there are photogra- phers and videographers to capture it all and riders have access to a bottomless supply of products from Veloforte, the Fortnum & Mason of the cycling nutrition world. For those less concerned about marginal gains, there is also an apparently limitless supply of Laurent-Perrier Champagne back at the hotel. The price for the two-day trip is almost £3,500, excluding the cost of getting here.


‘Among the group there’s


a Danish bond trader and his wife, a


clutch of fintech entrepreneurs and a former Cardiff Blues rugby player’


All this results in an interesting mix of people, who mingle and chat over the week- end. Among the 40 or so in the group, there is a Danish bond trader and his wife, a clutch of fintech entrepreneurs, a former Cardiff Blues rugby player and representatives from firms (such as Laurent-Perrier) that have partnered with LeBlanq to make it all happen.


T


he weekend began with a short leg loosener on the Friday evening before a light dinner, a glass or two of cham- pagne and an early night before a big day in the saddle on Saturday. But after my Saturday morning selfie with Merckx, I face a tough de- cision: go with the fastest of the four groups on a route covering 130km of rolling Cham- pagne countryside (with a not inconsiderable 2,000 vertical metres of ascent) or take it a little easier, with a slower pace and a less demanding parcours. LeBlanq describes its cycling as ‘joyriding’ and places the emphasis on having fun, rather than going fast. There is certainly no hint of the glamorisation of ‘suffering’ or high-performance that permeated cycling culture during the 2010s. All the same, I


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