GravelMan Series Nantes

The Nantes edition of the GravelMan Series heads from the Muscadet vineyards south of Nantes towards the Atlantic. Along the way riders meet the Loire, the reed beds and thatched cottages of the Brière and the salt marshes glowing at sunset, in a border country between Brittany and the Loire that looks flat and never quite is. The shorter routes stay between river and vineyard, while the longest ones go all the way to the ocean, each available in a gravel or a road version.

As across the GravelMan Series, there is no ranking: riders go at their own pace and in their own autonomy, on a carefully drawn trace with food stops, assistance along the whole route and a team waiting at the finish whatever the hour. The organiser sums it up as October light on the Loire and the salty wind rising near the ocean, rather than a result sheet.