The 360 degree panorama is breathtaking. The cozy rooms make you want to snuggle up. The swimming pool with its 24 m long pool, the highest in Europe, invites only diving. Welcome to seventh heaven in accommodation, nestled at an altitude of 2251 m above Val d’Isère (Savoie): the Solaise refuge.
“We have the honor of being the highest hotel in France. We have renovated the old station of the first cable car in the resort, ”says Virginie Borel, the hostess. In winter, the rooms are only accessible by the cable car that leaves from the resort, 700 m below.
This paradisiacal setting open since the end of 2019, even if this is not its original purpose, could become an important point of convergence for the world of sport, in search of high altitude. Even Font-Romeu, the usual place of internship in the Pyrénées-Orientales, is lower: 2213 m at its highest point.
For endurance sports, altitude is a treasure. The higher we go, the more our body needs to make red blood cells to compensate for the lack of oxygen. The increase in red blood cell count boosts muscle power and oxygen transport.
After a week of training at an altitude of 2,500 m, the hemoglobin level in the blood increases on average by 1%. “Studies say that the right altitude to benefit from this increase is between 2000 and 3000 m and that you have to stay there at least two weeks to feel the effects,” says Virginie Borel.
All this, the AG2R-la Mondiale team knows. Since July 12 and until the end of the week, half of Vincent Lavenu’s team (Romain Bardet, Mikaël Cherel, Benoit Cosnefroy, Pierre Latour, Nans Peters, Alexis Vuillermoz) is on internship in Val d’Isère . The other half is preparing at Lautaret (Hautes-Alpes) at 2100 m.
“There is a scientific consensus on the fact that in order to gain gains, we use a training technique called living high training low, (Editor’s note: “We train downstairs, we sleep upstairs”), that’s why we went so far in the Sierra Nevada in Spain. The altitude of 2400-2500 meters is indeed ideal for runners who react well, ”says Jean-Baptiste Quiclet, performance director of AG2R La Mondiale.
“We are in a performance bubble”
Incidentally, the team respects government instructions which recommend staying in France because of the health crisis: “We looked for the ideal place,” continues Jean-Baptiste Quiclet. At Lautaret, it’s a bit tight in terms of altitude. We prospected in Val-Thorens and we discovered this new hotel. It is the ideal spot, in the middle of the Iseran. It is a magnificent setting, in addition oriented towards other valleys such as the Maurienne. “
The alpine passes are therefore close by because there is no question here for the bitumen convicts to take it easy after months of confinement on a home trainer: “The preparation course at altitude upstream of the Tour is extremely important , confides Mikaël Cherel. Physically and psychologically, we put ourselves in a performance bubble. “The runner begins to feel the effects:” Such a high stage is a necessary step in the preparation. I would feel a lot more pressure on D-Day at the Dauphiné or on the Tour if I hadn’t been there. I would then wonder if I prepared myself well. There, I have no doubt about it. “
Still, all this has a cost: the refuge is a luxury domain that must be earned. Count at least 200 euros per night for one of the sixteen rooms. The AG2R are accommodated in one of the apartments which can accommodate 18 people at 1800 euros per night minimum.
