Cycling in the French Alps

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Updates
• Reviews

For most cyclists the French Alps conjure up images of the great champions of the Tour de France racing up legendary passes such as the Galibier, Izoard or Madeleine. Many dream of following in their tracks, but most are realistic enough to know that if they do so it will be at much more modest speeds. No matter how long the ascent takes, cycling over the summit of a mountain pass is a marvellous experience that never pales. The feeling of achievement is immense and there is a wonderful sensation of being both alive and at peace. As though this were not compensation enough for all the hard work of getting to the top, most high passes also offer outstanding views and an exhilarating descent as a final reward.

Of course, mountains do not have to be snow-capped giants to provide worthwhile cycling. Many lower areas are criss-crossed by quiet roads that meander through varied landscapes of open pastures, dark forests, deep gorges and unspoilt villages. The scenery is often just as beautiful as in the high mountains, but this beauty tends to be gentler and less ostentatious.

About this book

Cycling in the French Alps describes nine cycling routes through south-east France, between Lake Geneva and the Mediterranean. Eight of the routes are circular tours that start and finish at the same place; the final route is the Grand Traverse of the Alps from Geneva to Nice. As well as exploring the ‘true’ Alps, the routes cover the pre-Alps and the southern tip of the Jura. With the exception of the Tour of the Ain, which would be a good introduction to cycle touring in the mountains, all of the routes are difficult and aimed at fit and experienced cyclists.

When cycling in the mountains, the amount of vertical height gain is a much better indication of the difficulty of a route than the distance covered. The circuits were planned with this in mind and most stages include an average of between 1000 metres and 1500 metres of height gain, with an absolute maximum of 2000 metres for any single day (the stage from Bourg St Maurice to Bessans in Route 9 is the one exception to this rule). Most of the stages are between 50km and 80km long. Of course, some people will want to do longer stages than others. With this in mind, the facilities chart for each day (see below) shows all of the places along the route where accommodation can be found.

Anyone with basic map-reading skills can plan a cycling trip, so why would they need a guidebook? The answer is very simple: there are a lot of things that a map will not tell you – where you will find accommodation, shops, water and banks; what there is to see along the way; where the quietest roads are (the colour-coding systems used by maps for major and minor roads do not always tell the whole story); the best ways to cycle through larger towns and cities; the ins and outs of using public transport in a foreign country, and so on. This book provides all of this information and more in order to help you get the most from a cycling holiday in the French Alps.

The routes were chosen to include the areas I have most enjoyed cycling around during the thirteen years that I have lived in the Alps. In some areas, the choice of itinerary was easy as there are only a very small number of options. In other areas, the choice was more difficult and some wonderful places and spectacular passes had to be omitted. Even my adopted home (Chambéry) has not made it into the guide, despite being a beautiful city and superbly situated for cycling. With the exception of the Grand Traverse, which will take most cyclists two weeks, the routes were designed so they can be completed within one week. If you would like to do a longer tour, why not combine two of the routes. The two combinations I would recommend the most highly would be the Tour of the Ain plus the Chartreuse-Bauges and the Tour of the Ecrins and Grandes Rousses plus the Tour of the Southern Alps (linked via the Col de Vars and the Col de Pontis).