Join our Vuelta Skelta Strava challenge

It’s been a long, cold winter and for some of us, it’s been hard to find the motivation to get much riding in. But spring is just around the corner, and so too is the Vuelta a Espana.

To coincide with Eurosport’s coverage of the Vuelta on Foxtel, we’ve teamed up with Strava and Eurosport to bring you a challenge that will get you back on your bike and burning off those winter kilos.

The Vuelta a Espana is a climber’s race and this year’s route has been described as one of the hardest in recent memory. In fact, of the race’s 21 stages, 11 have a summit finish.

With our “Vuelta Skelta” Strava challenge we’re hoping to give you a taste of just how difficult this year’s race will be. Don’t worry, we won’t make you do the same amount of climbing as the actual Vuelta (although you’re welcome to try). The challenge is “just” to do the same amount of climbing as the riders will do on the two biggest stages combined: stages 14 and 15. That’s a total of 7,135 vertical metres.

Because we’re generous people we’ve decided to give you a whole 15 days to complete the challenge — from September 1 to September 15 — which means you have to average less than 500 metres of climbing per day. Easy, right?

Of course, there will be some of you out there that will probably knock off the 7,135 metres in one or two rides. And to you guys we say: just how many vertical metres can you climb in 15 days?

But this challenge is about far more than getting out into the hills and clocking up the metres. We want to see your photos on Instagram and hear your stories from your attempt at the Vuelta Skelta.

When posting tweets or taking ride photos with Instagram, be sure to use the hashtag #VueltaSkelta and we’ll feature the best ones in our post-challenge roundup. If you need some handy tips on how to take great cycling photos with Instagram, check out this article and this advice.

To promote the launch of the challenge, the good folks from Eurosport will be hitting the streets to meet you with free coffee on your morning ride. The coffee carts will be out from 6am to 10am on each of the following dates and at the following locations:

• Saturday August 17 — Terrey Hills, Sydney
• Sunday August 18 — Waterfall, Sydney (exact location TBC)
• Saturday August 24 & Sunday August 25 — Mordialloc Pier, Melbourne
  
• Saturday August 31 & Sunday September 1 — Mordialloc Pier, Melbourne
  
• Saturday September 7 & Sunday September 8 — Mt. Tamborine, Gold Coast
  

In conjunction with Eurosport we’ll also be giving away a Bianchi Impulso road bike (valued at $1,669) to one lucky challenge participant.

For more information about the prize, and to enter the Eurosport & CyclingTips Vuelta Skelta Strava challenge, just head over to the competition landing page.