Two years after the Haute Route gran fondo series was sold to triathlon powerhouse IRONMAN GROUP, the series has once again been put on the auction block and sold to a joint-venture between the French Cycling Federation and global public relations firm Hopscotch.

Operating as French Velo Evènements (FVE), the new joint-venture is the fourth owner of the beleaguered Haute Route organization in twelve years. Previous owners IRONMAN, Hartweg and OC Sport all vowed to grow the amateur cycling series, only to discover the difficult business realities of operating a calendar of multi-day gran fondos.

Now, Michel Callot, President of the French Cycling Federation, believes FVE can turnaround Haute Route’s fortune, “The French Cycling Federation has decided to join its forces with Hopscotch to build an ambitious cycling events calendar, bringing the best of both entities… Promoting Haute Route is a new challenge that completely fits FVE strategy.”

So far, FVE has announced three Haute Route events (Crans-Montana, Dolomites and Ventoux) will not return next year. Only the flagship 7-day Haute Route Alps in August and 5-day Haute Route Pyrenees in July are planned in 2024, with registrations limited to 500 riders each and costing 1500 – 2000 Euros.

PHOTOS: Haute Route, FFC