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From the Independent...

Are you ready for the challenge?

Four weeks from today, around 9,000 cyclists will line up in the pretty French town of Gap and set off on a 187km ride across the Alps. They will have to scale three huge peaks on the way, ending with a dizzying climb up the 12km of 1-in-10 hairpin roads that lead to the summit of Alpe d'Huez.

It will take these amateur enthusiasts anywhere between five and 10 hours to complete the ride. They will burn up some 7,000 calories, and there'll be times when they'll wonder whether the pain and suffering are worth it. But they'll forget all that the moment they cross the line, and look back in wonder.

This is the Etape - the annual amateurs' stage of the Tour de France and very much the king of the cycle events known as sportives. These are the domain of the keen amateur who may or not be a member of a club. They are not races - except possibly for a small, super-fast group at the front - but they are much more than a fun or charity ride like the London to Brighton.

Sportives come out of a great Continental cycling tradition in which, rather than track racing or time trials, cyclists take on a different discipline altogether, akin to the stages that make up the great races of the professional year - the Tours of France, Italy and Spain.

Every weekend all over the Continent, but especially France, sportives big and small will see clusters of cyclists - anything from a hundred or so to thousands -riding up to 250km at a stretch, quite possibly taking in some formidable climbing on the way.

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British cyclists have begun to flock to sportives - partly for an authentic taste of Continental cycling, but mainly because of the extreme challenge a sportive presents. None is tougher than the Etape, in which you get to ride a mountain stage of the Tour proper, with full organisational back-up. The roads are closed to all other traffic. There are feed stations along the way. Technical support vehicles are on hand if something goes wrong with your bike.

All that the cyclists have to do is train for months beforehand, put the rest of their lives on hold, and then take the plunge into one of the most exhilarating endurance events going. I've battled my way through the last three, and I have to say that if my house was burning down, my Etape medals would be very high on the list of possessions I'd want to grab first.

"It's like the marathon boom of the 1980s," says Peter Davies, general manager of Sports Tours International, which specialises in trips to sportives. "It's an unbelievable challenge, but that's what so many people want these days." This weekend Davies was with clients in northern Italy for the amateur version of Milan-San Remo - at 300km a monster of a ride that ought to be beyond mere mortals. But given enough time and dedication to training, it needn't be.

I've run the London Marathon, and it was great, but riding a bike absurd distances over the Alps or Pyrenees - the effort, the rhythm, the oneness with a spectacular environment - gave me a sense of achievement that exceeded even the 26-mile route from Greenwich to Westminster.

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Philip Burnett, the boss of Mosquito Bikes in north London, says "sportives are definitely the way cycling is heading. People have maybe gone from commuting to longer rides. They want a challenge, to see how fit they can get, and if they've got the money they like the idea of having a really nice racing bike. They probably aren't interested in racing, but a sportive is perfect for them."

Now in its 14th year, the Etape may just have got too successful for its own good. On a narrow mountain pass it only takes a couple of the less fit to get off and push, and hundreds behind are forced to do the same. That was a big problem last year when the Etape took in the one-in-eight slopes of the Col de Marie-Blanc in the Pyrenees. Plus places are harder and more expensive to come by than they used to be.

Among those who have completed the Etape, there may also be a feeling of been-there-done-that and a desire to discover what other sportives might have to offer. Arguably the two biggest on the calendar after the Etape take place outside the home of the Tour. These are the Tour of Flanders in Belgium in early April and the Gran Fondo Campagnolo in Italy, the 2006 edition of which takes place on Sunday.

Flanders is a challenge quite unlike the Etape but in some ways is even more brutal. Based on one of the so-called spring classics - the series of season-opening pro races that for a few weeks make the Low Countries the focus of cycling attention - the ride combines long, flat wind-buffeted stretches with short and horribly steep climbs over cobbles. Lovely. The full distance of 270km is beyond the capabilities (and sanity) of all but the most hardened bike nut, but there is always the option of the 140km route.

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The 208km Gran Fondo is very much Italy's Etape, with the advantage of starting and finishing in the same place. The climbing - in the Dolomites - is no less awesome, and for cycling's growing "style" constituency, with their Rapha tops and hand-built Italian bikes, its appeal is even greater. As with the Etape, the challenge is in applying quickly enough to secure one of the places, but if you miss out there is at least a series of lesser Gran Fondos to choose from.

Of the long established sportives in France, the Ardèchoise has a special place, simply because of its sheer scale. More of a bike festival than a one-off ride, attracting some 15,000 cyclists, it takes place over three days in June in the Ardèche - the beautiful region of rivers and gorges in the south-east corner of the Massif Central - and offers a variety of rides over a variety of distances. Not to be confused with the Ariegeoise, another excellent sportive that takes place in the Pyrenees.

As for other sportives, it's not so much a matter of where to begin as where to end. There are hundreds all over France, and which one to go for could depend on a number of factors - the terrain, the distance, the ease of getting there, what time of year it takes place. This year I liked the look of Les Milles Bosses ("the thousand hills"), close to Lyon and therefore very handy by train (you just need to take the wheels off your bike and store it in a regulation bike bag).

That took place in early May, but for an end-of-summer goal, why not the Ronde Picardie in northern France in the second week of September?

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Philip Burnett likes an event called the Claude Criquielion, named after a local cycling great, that takes place in the Ardennes hills on the French-Belgian border in late August. "There are a lot of climbs and they're pretty steep," he says, "but it's a classic sportive in an area full of cycling tradition." He's also ridden the amateur version of another spring classic, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which at 240km is another full day's entertainment for those brave enough to tackle it.

Booking won't open for the 2007 Etape until next January. But it's not too soon to start getting yourself in training.

Riding a sportive is a big undertaking, but, like a marathon, open to all. Cycling, however, can't be said to be as cheap as running - few sports are - and an investment in a good road bike is essential. The good news is that competition is forcing prices down all the time. As recently as a couple of years ago you would have needed a minimum of £1,000 to buy a bike capable of handling the rigours of an Etape. Now you can get one for £500. Carbon bikes have gone from £2,000-plus to under £1,000. You'll also need to allow for cycle clothing.

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A commitment to long-term training is also necessary. (If you've got a family, they should know what you are letting yourself and them in for.) Someone who commutes, say, 10 miles a day is clearly better placed to get in shape for an Etape than a non-cyclist, but even they would need three to six months of building up the miles. You'll need to seek out hills where you can, and by the end of your training be fit enough to handle rides of six hours or more. The biggest and hardest sportives require entrants to produce a doctor's certificate confirming that they are fit enough to tackle the ride.

You don't have to join a club, but unless you have someone to ride with, it's to be recommended. Cycling is a social sport, and few of us have the motivation to train alone. There is also much to learn from more experienced riders.

So which sportive to go for? The Etape remains the most alluring because of its intimate connection to the Tour de France, the most historic bike race of all. The chosen stage is always announced at the same time as the route for the race proper, in the October of the year before. Booking then opens in January, and British entrants have to go through an official tour operator to book a place. These include Sports Tours International (www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk) and Sporting Tours (www.sportingtours.co.uk), both of whom offer trips to numerous other Continental sportives including the extensive series of Gran Fondo rides that take place in Italy. The amateur versions of the northern European spring classics are an appealing alternative to the high mountains, but don't imagine that they are any less demanding.

Other useful organisations include British Cycling, the sport's governing body (www.britishcycling.org.uk), and the long-distance cycling organisation Audax (www.audax.uk.com). The magazines Cycling Weekly and Cycling Plus are good sources of wisdom and information. SO'H