On 5 September 2023, Antoine Socquet-Juglard from Mégeve set a new record for the Tour of Mont-Blanc on a mountain-bike. Antoine did this without any crew to provide bike changes and nourishment, in a time of 15 hours 55 minutes, beating the previous record set earlier this summer.
“I really wanted to break that record. I even noted it in my calendar this season. We just had to wait for the right weather window.” On September 5, Antoine set off on the Tour du Mont-Blanc from Les Contamines-Montjoie leaving his car in the car park close to the church Notre Dame de la Gorge. He rode in a clockwise direction, to Chamonix, then over into Switzerland, passing through Italy before returning to France. “I left independently following as much as possible the GR route, just adapting certain passages.”
Last year, Antoine had already ventured onto the course, but had to give up. “ I broke my ribs and elbow. I had to go back in August this year, but I had work to do and it was really too hot. There is no official record and it is our GPS track that proves the route and the time. There are several records. One is route I took or almost completed in the other direction, another in less than 10 hours but with assistance and bike changes between the roads and the road and also a road record that belongs to Nicolas Roux, another Mégevan.” After a good part of the way alone, Antoine was joined by Frédéric Azzolin who accompanied him to the end of the course. “I like to be alone but having support in the end helped me.”
Assistance from Le Daphiné
