Le Pilgrimage
~485km total across 3 stages (not a race - non-competitive) km ~9100 m
All Events
La Grand Bifurkade
Difficulty Profile
TERRAIN
CLIMBING
HEAT
REMOTE
600 km
Distance
10000 m
Elevation
Gravel
Surface
Advanced
Difficulty
Event description
La Grand Bifurkade is a gravel cycling event starting in Metzeral in the Vosges mountains of eastern France, with distance options of 300 and 600 kilometers. The Vosges are a relatively low but densely forested mountain range running parallel to the Rhine valley, known for their rolling ridgelines, pine forests, and an extensive network of forestry roads that make for excellent gravel riding away from the more crowded Alps further south. Metzeral sits in the Alsace region in a valley beneath some of the higher Vosges summits, offering immediate access to climbing and forest gravel right from the start line.
The name 'Bifurkade,' evoking the idea of a fork or branching point, suggests the route may offer riders meaningful choices in how they navigate between the two distance options or within route variants along the way, in keeping with a broader trend among smaller French gravel events toward flexible, rider-directed routing rather than a single rigid course.
Bike recommendation
Bike
Gravel Bike
Tires
45-50mm Tubeless
Cassette
10-51T
Chainring
38-40T (1x)
