Meet the 21 Riders of the 2021 Women’s Torino-Nice Rally

Photos by Tristan Bogaard (@tristanbogaard) and Rugile Kaladyte (@rugilekaladyte)

The Torino Nice Rally is a 700-kilometer mixed gravel and tarmac ride through the Alps from Turin, Italy, to Nice, France, with 17,500 meters of climbing. Route designer James Olsen hosts a group start the first week of September every year. It’s not a race, but a challenge to finish the route in a week.

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This year, in partnership with Komoot and loads of help from Gaby Thompson, we’ve organized a Women’s Torino Nice Rally. As with the group start, the idea is that a group of women begins the ride in Turin together and rides the route self-supported. Riders can choose where and when they want to eat and sleep every night and how far they want to go every day. The idea is that we leapfrog one another along the way, form small groups, and have the best time ever.

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With a group of 21 women, we set out from Turin at 8:20 a.m. on Friday, September 24. Tristan Bogaard and Belen Castello came to the start to cheer for us and took portraits of each rider. Another five women, including Sophie Gateau and Gaelle Bojko, will meet us on the road.

A few of us our riding with trackers and you can follow our progress here. If you’re in the area, please come out and join us for a stretch. Our goal is to make it to Nice on October 1st for the finishers’ party at the Service Course.

The route is public and available all year. Organizing events brings people together to share stories and adventure, motivate each other over the cols and help one another. This event is for women because I’ve been to many bikepacking races where I’m the only woman or at most, we’re ten percent of the entire field. It’s also an awesome opportunity to spend time with women who I’ve heard about for years and exchanged messages with, but have never met in person. I’m so inspired by this group, both fun-loving and tenacious.

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We’ve been out on the route for two days and have already climbed nearly 7,000 meters over six cols: Colombardo, Finestre, Assietta, Lauson, Montgenevre, and l’Izoard. The group is no more than 50 kilometers apart, and my personal goal is to spend some time on the bike with every woman out here.

2021 Women’s Torino-Nice Rally Portraits

See the full gallery of all 21 riders and rigs from the Women’s Torino-Nice Rally below, all shot by Tristan Bogaard. You’ll find the rider’s name, age, home country, and Instagram handle above each photo.

Neza Peterca

Age 33 / Slovenia / @t.w.w.c

Peta McSharry

Age 54 / Ireland / @petamcsharry

Katie-Jane L’Herpiniere

Age 41 / England / @katiejaneendurance

Emily Chappell

Age 39 / England / @emilyofchappell

Diana

Age 39 / Germany / @ladydi_ontheroad

Sian McLoughlin

Age 49 / Wales / @sianskicycle

Anna Woodward

Age 41 / England / @spannasw

Anna McLeod

Age 32 / England / @bikingforbrioche

Gaby Thompson

Age 32 / England / @gofastergaby

Nicola Carass

Age 32 / England / @nicjocarass

Tamara Kroll

Age 50 / Germany / @tamtamka

Charlotte Inman

Age 35 / England / @charlotte_inman_

Valérie Clerc

Age 35 / Switzerland / @tractatusillogicus

Louise Roussel

Age 30 / France / @lourssl

Océane Le Pape

Age 32 / France / @oceanelepape

Gabrielle Booth

Age 22 / USA/Canada / @gbooth99

Rachael Walker

Age 35 / England / @riderrachy

Katherine Moore

Age 29 / England / @katherinebikes

Adrienne Estrada

Age 28 / France / @estrada.adrienne

Lael Wilcox

Age 35 / USA / @laelwilcox

Rugile Kaladyte

Age 28 / USA / @rugilekaladyte

The Route

As described on the Torino-Nice Rally website, “The Komoot Torino-Nice Rally is a bikepacking, touring or randonneur event – a ride that’s a bit of most things except technically difficult in the mountain biking sense. It’s not a race, just a challenge to finish and a question of what to ride and where to focus your efforts.

​The route includes around 300 miles / 485km of tarmac going up to a high point of 2750m and taking in two Grand Tour cols, also 150 miles / 240km of rocky gravel-based military stradas along the border often at an altitude of 2000m or more. The scenery of the Queyras and Mercantour national parks and the Ligurian, Cottian and Maritime Alps will reward those prepared to ride long days and sleep out, seeing the sun rise and set each day.”

Stay tuned for more reports and stories from the 2021 Women’s Torino-Nice Rally. We’ll be sharing a follow-up piece from Lael later this week. In the meantime, we’d like to wish all the riders the best of luck out on the route!

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