The Highest Crit In The World is none of these things. There are no food trucks, trade stands or hospitality suites. There are no grandstands or finish line arches adorned with branding. The road is not closed, although it is practically empty. It’s as far away from the niçois streets and people as you might possibly expect. It's for six riders who were inspired by a simple off-the-wall idea.

The Highest Crit In The World does however share some of the core characteristics of its lower elevation contemporaries. Redline racing, riding non-stop at or over threshold for several laps and contested between racing cyclists with the bike handling skills to ride elbows out and go shoulder to shoulder in a frantic battle for the line.

Add in oxygen deprivation and the idea of a criterium at this altitude becomes an extreme concept.

The Highest Crit In The World took place on the Cime de la Bonette, topping out at 2,802m above sea level. We believe it is the Highest Crit In The World because there are no official records documenting other mountain top crits. If there are others who have done it, we'd love to exchange stories and compare notes.

Those that have been there will know that the Cime de la Bonette is the 2km loop that lassoes the peak of the mountain above the traditional Col itself. For us, having visited the Cime so many times over the years, it was an obvious thing to do : at least, it's as obvious as any of the other follies in this sport.

The riders of Highest Crit In The World were, in a way, self-selecting. These are those young enough, fit enough and/or crazy enough to ignore the logistical difficulties, the physical challenge and be blinded by the idea of something really quite unique. To turn the screw on one another at altitude, over a parcours of two halves – one with a quite brutal ascent with ramps at 20% and the other a barrier-free hair-raising descent.

The riders of the Highest Crit In The World are a selection of the best amateurs from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region both past and present. They rose through the ranks from the juniors to the elite amateurs, and beyond.

At 19, Andrea Misfud is the youngest and has recently graduated from the junior ranks to join CR4C Roane, one of the top teams in the French Division National 1. ‘DN1’ is as high as you can go as an amateur and is the spring board to a pro contract. Despite a recent leg break, Andrea is on the way up but away from the demands of the top level he still loves an adventure - his first ascension of Ventoux was with us on gravel...

Conversely, and to prove the point that genetics are a huge factor in cycling talent, Andrea's dad, Jean-Stephan decided to join the party. Because he'd just been riding with his son at altitude down the valley in Isola 2000 and he still remembers glory days winning local races and further afield winning stage three of the Tour de Tunisie and being awarded Best Combative Rider of the RÁS, Ireland’s premier stage race. And, we guess, moments like this with your son are pretty special.

Valentin Caraplis is a Café du Cycliste employee who runs marathons and rides the biggest sportives he can find. The running tunes his top end, the riding works on his endurance and the sense of adventure maintains motivation levels at maximum. He's a mountain lover and he’s here to prove he's not just a diesel engine.

Thomas Navarro, 25, is a local elite amateur cyclist who has now turned his hand to other things, namely a profession in triathlon. Having raced with and against Florent and Marvin before his transition (pun intended), Thom was delighted to line up on the Col to break up the swim-bike-run repeat that pays the bills.

Florent Icard’s view from home in Auron includes the Cime de la Bonette. As we’ve documented before, Flo is just like his dad Michel – a rider for life who doesn’t discriminate between who he rides with or what the particular discipline of cycling happens to be on the agenda on any given day. Plus he has an actual cowbell to act as the cloche for the start/finish line. He always brings la classe.

Marvin Gruget is primarily a mountain biker, not a roadie. He has many notable entries on his palmares but the one that stands out is finishing ahead of a certain Lance Armstrong at the XTERRA (off-road) Triathlon World Championships. Once he transitioned to the road in 2015 he became regional champ almost instantaneously. He also claims to be a world champion at pétanque and one-legged surfing, but so far this has not been verified by the authorities.

The racing of the Highest Crit In The World? Two cycling teams, two cycling jerseys, the south side in Dalida Navy and the north side in Dalida Bordeaux. Anti-clockwise loops of the Cime, climbing the western (Saint-Etienne) side and descending the eastern (Jausiers) side.

To have a start finish line on the line of the Col de la Bonette itself is, dare we say it, something other-worldly. The Cime road splits left and right from the Col and cuts its way into the mountain to trace the track to the roadside memorial at the highest point. It’s an 800m climb on the south east side at an average of 10% gradient and Strava says the last right hander before the summit hits 20%. What it doesn’t tell you is how much less oxygen you are getting into your blood. That job is left to lungs and legs to feedback directly just how much O2 they are missing.

'The bicycle-riders drank much wine, and were burned and brown by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except amongst themselves. They had raced among themselves so often that it did not make much difference who won' (Ernest Hemingway)

Only it does make a difference. It always does. Andrea and Thom may be the only two riders still actively competing but everyone save for Andrea's dad has pinned on a number against each other at some stage. There is no prize money at stake for this self-invented folly but it's more important than that. Pride amongst friends. That's why The Highest Crit In The World might be sub-titled, 'the race of non-stop attacks'. Each one with a smirk or a smile and in the knowledge that it will probably never last. Racing for fun.

And the winner? There probably should have been a handicap system in place based on age, life commitments and palmares. Everyone came together as they passed the cow bell going into the final lap. And then unfortunately the photographer's camera had a problem. So we have no evidence of the winner but needless to say he’s still talking about it. If you really want to know the result, you'll have to come to Nice to meet the riders on one of our weekend rides and hear the six different versions of the truth.