Etienne Hubert | From Kayak to Gravel: Traversing the Alps

The summer months are synonymous with heavy training loads for the kayak racers of the French national team. 2023 was no exception to the rule, a demanding round of qualifying for the Olympic Games punctuated the summer, and bodies are battered. September is a month where Etienne Hubert, veteran kayak racer and Caravan athlete, takes some time out, but still very much keeps the engine running. September is where Etienne Hubert organises his unmissable bikepacking trips.

It’s inconceivable for him to end the summer without a demanding travel adventure by bike, shared with his friends in the wild. Several projects were mentioned, ultimately it was the Torino-Nice route that won, if not for a serious landslide rendering the Paris-Turin TGV line out of action. So, a substitute epic journey is drawn up between Saint-Jean de Maurienne in the Alps and Nice on the Côte d’Azur. A somewhat less demanding course, but with 600 km and 16000 metres of elevation, the riders taking it on will get their money's worth.

Etienne Hubert | From Kayak to Gravel: Traversing the Alps

Etienne Hubert has this fine ability to unite people. Bringing together sports-humans from differing backgrounds to embark on his (sometimes fantastical) adventures. From the first WhatsApp group message, which includes around twenty curious folks, more than ten will take to the start. Some are novices and will have a few weeks to buy bikes and equipment. That shows you how convincing Etienne can be. All in there are five kayak World Champions, a pro-cyclist, a former middle-distance athlete, and other adventurers from various walks of life. On paper the group holds its own, it will also hold its own when they hit the ground riding. The Invincibles, perhaps.

It’s leaden heat on the flat industrial valley of Saint Jean de Maurienne, which is not the most beautiful place to begin the journey. But the gravel track which should lead our peloton to Valloire has suffered a landslide. It is on the Col du Galibier that the offroad adventure will really begin, a unique moment when the group, loaded up to their ears, reaches the summit. The track which leads to the Rochilles refuge at an altitude of over 2600m is dominated by the famous turrets of the Pointes de Cerces (3098m) and already gives a taste of the next day’s terrain. A preamble of two or three kilometres pushing the bike on foot is the price to pay for avoiding the Galibier and the Lautaret road to reach the magnificent Nevache valley.

This is a mecca for cross-country skiing and has a most tranquil ambience with Tibetan prayer flags fluttering and rivers twinkling. A clear contrast with Briançon, which the group reached a few hours later for a brief return to ‘civilization’ before attacking the Izoard and Agnel passes. Col de l’Agnel is declared a bivouac site at the end of this second day. Perhaps not the best idea, at 2500 meters the nights are cool, they are even more so when the pack must travel as light as possible and the sleeping bags are not the thickest. But that is what adventure sometimes calls for. The day that follows will conversely be much warmer.

Italy is on the cards for day three, che bella. It’s 10 am, and already the sun seems to be burning all its powder. The bumpy tracks sheds the bikes of excess belongings. Everything that does not fit into the panniers goes: flip flops, lights, inner tubes... at the back of the peloton the collection of lost objects is organised, no problem. Good ice cream today too, of course. The group do turns through-and-off on the valley floor to reach ‘Little Peru’, the route’s main attraction for day four. There are adventurers in the group, athletes who have travelled the world and who are not making their first geographical discovery, but Little Peru raises the same collective surprise, the same wonder as Big Peru. Like the Andes Mountains, there is a plateau at altitude crossed by dirt tracks, and the place is sublime, unmissable, even if the paths which lead there give the group a hard time. The big effort is largely rewarded, as is nature’s way.

It's day five already, Via del Sale. The longest day of the journey – demanding, and seemingly endless. The military road which runs through the ridges leads back to France. Here, the remains of forts and barracks follow one another. Many cyclists and hikers stop at the Don Barbera refuge, but this group will stop at Tende in the valley, 1300 metres lower and quite a few kilometres further along. They finish in darkness but the barbecue in the bed of a drained river, eating copious protein to fuel for the last portion of the journey is the whole and pure objective of the moment. Tomorrow the sea will be within sight, and with it renewed motivation to turn the pedals.

Each bivouac arrangement requires time. As the days go by, the departure time moves back, it is 10 am when the gang leaves the streets of Tende on this Saturday morning. The planned day is long, and our riders will have to make up for the late roll-out. The attacks on the passes even on this penultimate and leg-weary day shows the competitive spirit hasn’t left the group. On the descents or on the climbs, the desire to fight is palpable. It is in the DNA of these warriors; the journey can be seen like a training camp. The village of St. Agnès, perched above Menton, marks the beginning of the end. Tomorrow they will arrive in Nice. The team sets its sights on the only water point in the village, on a roundabout, at the foot of the road which leads to the Col de la Madone.

This will be the last bivouac spot, rather incongruous, yet effective and practical. A restaurant has accepted that the group will come to their place this evening, although it will be difficult to find a t-shirt that is still clean. The place is rustic, however, and the 11 guys who have just arrived on the terrace are even more so. The meal is generous and the evening successful. Tomorrow the short 40 kilometres that leads to Nice promises to be a procession and celebration.

The warm, clear water of the Mediterranean into which the gang throws itself this Sunday morning has a taste of reward, a moment that everyone has dreamed of since the first climb six days ago. It seems that weeks of adventure have passed since then.

The sunglasses will later hide a few eyes reddened by tears as the time for catching trains home approaches. A trip like this between friends is much more serious than it seems. It can give rise to unsuspected feelings of joy and pride, and always the immediate, spontaneous desire: to do it all over again as soon as possible!

A Day in the (Sporting) Life of Étienne Hubert.

It’s 6:27 am as we approach Étienne Hubert’s front door on the eastern edge of Paris. The professional kayaker and Caravan athlete resides a stone’s throw from Bois de Vincennes, the city’s largest public park. Today, we are here to follow him around as he trains and observe the life of sportsman who will not stop.

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