La Vosges Express

La Vosges Express follows the old railway lines of the Vosges massif, whose heyday came in the early twentieth century, and its organisers tie that rail history to cycling's first age of endurance, from the 1903 Tour de France to the Brevets Randonneurs Mondiaux born in 1921. They pitch it as an inward journey steeped in history.

It is unsupported and ridden on open roads along a single GPX trace, in the randonneur tradition: riders collect punches and stamps at volunteer checkpoints on a brevet card rather than chasing a ranking. Disused rail beds bring back the kind of rough, loose surfaces the pioneers of long-distance cycling knew.

For 2027 the route crosses the massif from Strasbourg to Colmar, where riders finish at a brewery, under the FF Vélo long-distance label.