Rider Level: 4/5
Cost: £1200
Arrive: Saturday 30 May
Depart: Sunday 06 June
Airport: Arrive / Depart Geneva
Transfers: Included in above price
Single room supplement: £35 per person per night
We start the and finish the ride at our Chalet Nicola in Le Praz. In addition to the Nicola we have booked 4 single rooms in the nearby Chalet Swift so we can accommodate everyone.
Ride Day 1
Starting from the chalet we ride downhill to Brides les Bains then onto Moutiers. After around 30km we join a cycle path to Bourg St Maurice. This is a good place for coffee before we start the climb towards Italy.
The Col de Petit St Bernard is a relatively easy climb with gradients of around the 4/5% but it is 30km! – it takes us through the ski station of La Rosiere before reaching the summit and the Italian border. It’s a 14km descent to our hotel in the pretty Italian ski resort La Thuile.
Ride Day 2
Couple of options today. One takes in the Colle de San Carlo from Le Thuile (some very steep sections at 10% on this one) the other takes us to the Aosta valley directly. We can all meet in Aosta for lunch (it’s a lovely town) The climb to Cogne is steady rather than super steep averaging around 6%. Cogne is in the heart of the Grand Paradis National park and is a simply stunning location.
Option 1
Option 2
Ride Day 3
On our way to Switzerland and the Grand St Bernard. It tops out at 2450m. It starts at around 4% with some steeper sections as we near the top. The average gradient is 6%. It’s a long one though 32km! It’s 40km downhill to our hotel in the Swiss town of Martigny.
Ride Day 4
We roll out of Martigny but after a short warm up we are onto the Col de Forclaz (13km at 8%) This is a tough climb. There is a 6km descent when we reach the Swiss/French border. The road climbs again but a steady 5% to the Col de Montets. It’s all downhill to Chamonix where we can have some lunch. The ride down the Chamonix valley is rolling with some uphill sections before start climbing gradually towards the ski station St Gervais. Our hotel is in nearby Coubloux.
Ride Day 5
It’s an easy start today with flat/downhill for around 20km before reaching the village of Flumet. The main climb today is the Col Aravis. We are now in the Haute Savoie and the hills are more rolling. Having said that the top if the Aravis is 7%. It’s a beautiful area and there are plenty nice café’s for breaks and lunch. Our route takes us over the Col de Croix Fry and the Col de Marais as we make our way towards Albertville.
The last 40km is flat and we will finish in Moutiers today. There is an option to ride back to the chalet but you will need to be feeling good!
Ride Day 6
We finish the trip with a couple options but all involve lunch at a local refuge in Champagny en Vanoise. Option 1 would be to descend from the chalet to Bozel and then ride directly to the Champagny en haut. After lunch we follow the same route back to the chalet. It’s a beautiful route on remote mountain roads. If you fancy a longer/harder ride we can tackle the Col de Loze. This a newly constructed road only for cyclists and takes you from the chalet to 1850 then up to 2300m altitude! We then drop over to Meribel and make the round trip back to Le Praz before following the same route to Champagny.