Alps

paulcuthbert

Planning a late vacation to the Alps to ride some of the climbs from the Tour. Any advice on where to fly to, stay, etc to get the most out of a 7-day trip to France?

Also gonna get the TGV down to Provence to do Mont Ventoux and then to Paris and fly back from there.

Any advice is welcome- thanks!

emadden

Stay in Bourg d'Oisans - seriously. The amount of iconic climbs you ride out of there is incredible. You can do Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Lautaret, Telegraph, Croix de Fer, and Glandon. Most within a ride's reach. That area for me is the most epic.

You could also stay in Morzine or Annecy - but Bourg d'Oisans is the easiest to get to from Ventoux/Avignon area - close to Grenoble.


You dont have to sign up with these guys, but it will give a good idea:

http://www.tourdoisans.com/bourg%20d%27oisans.asp

emadden

Actually, if you go and ride out of Oisans now it would be awesome as most of the road paint will still be on the roads, giving a good atmosphere :-)

durhamwasp

How late is late?

I would recommend Bourg, as posted above - its the place for famous cols

Ventoux is worth the trip too.

inseine

Just got back from my third trip this year to the alps ( ) and Bourg is still my favorite. tried St Jean de Maurienne but it's pretty dreary though you can easily do col du la Madeleine from there which is great climb. You have to do alpe d'Huez, obviously, but there are plently of nicer climbs. Ride up to la Garde (6 corners up?) and swing right and eventually on to col de Sarenne which is 2000m and from there you descend into Huez. It's a bit rough and I don't recommend descending it. Nearer the top of the Alpe you can turn left, or turn right on the way back down and there's a superb ride to Villard Reculas. The place is still teaming with cyclists BTW.

Gavin Cook

Hi
If do the Ventoux you should stay in Bedoin. Its a great little village with nice restaurants etc.
If you are on a budget you can camp or rent a holiday home at the municipal camp site LA PINÈDE located in Bedoin. If you are not on a budget stay at hotel le escapade http://www.lescapade.eu/. This is a beautiful hotel and restaurant. This is my favourite restaurant in the village.
Take a warm top for when you reach the peak and descend, it can be quite cold up there.

Gavin

mrushton

Somewhere like Moutiers or Albertville can be good as you can go over the Madeleine to the Maurienne valley (Glandon/Telegraphe) or up to the Beaufort valley or the Trois Vallee area. Bourg St.Maurice gives you the Cormet de Roseland > Les Saisies, Petit Col St.Bernard and the 50km to the Iseran

jim453

Arrived home from Bourg d'Oisans about a week ago after a three day stay.

I can say with all honesty that it was breathtaking. This place absolutely stinks of cycling.

There are many very, very famous climbs within a short radius from the town.

For example we did.....

Day 1: Col d'Ornon first evening after hiring the bikes

Day 2: Ride up to Villard Notre Dame in the morning (stunning). Alpe d'Huez in the afternoon.

Day 3: Ride up the Glandon and over the Croix de Fer, down into valley beyond and then up and over the Telegraph and the Galibier. Then back to Bourg down the Lauteret. I passed on the final ascent of the Alpe and had a beer instead.

Go to Bourg d'Oisans. You will not be disappointed.

Wrong forum by the way.

greasedscotsman

Also make sure you take a trip to Briancon or Guillestre and have a go at the Col d'Izoard. The Casse Deserte is stunning!

inseine

A less known ride from Bourg, but totally stunning, is up to La Bérarde. It's about 30k and takes in steep climbs, flats and valleys. You follow the river all the way and there are restaurants at the end, one in particular is very good. It's not a traditional climb because it's so long but you end up at around 1750m and the views are amazing.

guinea

Gavin Cook wrote:

Hi
If do the Ventoux you should stay in Bedoin. Its a great little village with nice restaurants etc.
If you are on a budget you can camp or rent a holiday home at the municipal camp site LA PINÈDE located in Bedoin. If you are not on a budget stay at hotel le escapade http://www.lescapade.eu/. This is a beautiful hotel and restaurant. This is my favourite restaurant in the village.
Take a warm top for when you reach the peak and descend, it can be quite cold up there.

Gavin

If you stay at the campsite, get a low numbered pitch. The high numbers are up a steep slope that isn't too roadbike friendly.

I think that site's near some kennels. Dozens of dogs howling through the night sucked.

Other than that, it's a good cheap place

greasedscotsman

inseine wrote:

A less known ride from Bourg, but totally stunning, is up to La Bérarde. It's about 30k and takes in steep climbs, flats and valleys. You follow the river all the way and there are restaurants at the end, one in particular is very good. It's not a traditional climb because it's so long but you end up at around 1750m and the views are amazing.

hammerite

I'm also back from a week, Bourg d'Oisans is great. Also look at Allemond which is in the valley. We stayed at Oz ski station, so had a cheeky 8k climb back home at the end of every ride - hard work.

There's a great little book you can pick up free from tourist information that lists 30 different routes. Quite useful.

If going further north the other Bourg, Bourg St Maurice is the place to stay.

hammerite

In fact it seems you can download it now.... http://www.bikes-oisans.com/mtb-cycling-practice-352.html

term1te

hammerite wrote:

In fact it seems you can download it now.... http://www.bikes-oisans.com/mtb-cycling-practice-352.html

Thanks for the link, I'm off there next week.

suspectdevice

inseine wrote:

A less known ride from Bourg, but totally stunning, is up to La Bérarde. It's about 30k and takes in steep climbs, flats and valleys. You follow the river all the way and there are restaurants at the end, one in particular is very good. It's not a traditional climb because it's so long but you end up at around 1750m and the views are amazing.

Totally agree.

We stayed in Bourg d'Arud at a camp site and we did the Berarde about 2 weeks ago, it is an amazing climb when done on a good day.

Vizille looked like a good place to stay if you can't get near Oisans.

emadden

hammerite wrote:

I'm also back from a week, Bourg d'Oisans is great. Also look at Allemond which is in the valley. We stayed at Oz ski station, so had a cheeky 8k climb back home at the end of every ride - hard work.

....

I wouldnt call the climb to Oz station as "cheeky"... I'd call it BRUTAL.

paulcuthbert

Bourg d'Oisans it is!

hammerite

emadden wrote:

hammerite wrote:

I'm also back from a week, Bourg d'Oisans is great. Also look at Allemond which is in the valley. We stayed at Oz ski station, so had a cheeky 8k climb back home at the end of every ride - hard work.

....

I wouldnt call the climb to Oz station as "cheeky"... I'd call it BRUTAL.

Yeah ok, I'll admit that! I wasn't sure whether it just seemed harder because it was at the end of rides that already had a fair amount of climbing in already.

When we were there we had the European Downhill MTB cup on in the village. Worth checking out what other events are on at the same time, you might be surprised.

Moomaloid

Me and my buddy stayed in Oizans in the week leading up to the Alpe D'Huez stage of the Tour. It really is a mecca for Cyclists and yes its beautiful. Even if the weather was pretty naff for most of the week. Some amazing rides. In between the rain we squeezed in Lauteret-Galibier, Col D'Ornon, the Alpe and the Croix de Fer which was a real b!tch at the end of the week.. we're already planning on heading back next year...

Jim453 - the guy in the tent next to us rode up to Notre Dame.. we drove up in the rain one day and it was pretty frightening. Precipice stylee! Did u carry on across the dirtroad to the other side?

durhamwasp

I did a week in Le Grand Bornand this summer, while it doesnt have the iconic climbs around it that Bourg D'Oisans does, it is still an excellent location for roadies.

Within 15km are the summits of 3 tour de france climbs - Col de la Colombiere, Col des Aravis and the Col de la Croix Fry, while within the region there are more than 100 cols to hit.

The village has a bit more to offer than Bourg in my opinion, especially with children.

airwise

Whilst Bourg is something of a Mecca for many, it IS touristy and busy at this time of year, with a hell of a lot of traffic.

My personal favourites are Barcelonnette and Briancon. From the latter you can ride to Izoard, Vars, Granon, Montegenevre, Sestriere, Galibier and Agnel to name just a few - plus you can hop over the border and ride the Fenestre.

Barcelonnette will offer you the Vars, Bonnette, Champs, Allos, Cayolle, Larche, Pra Loup, and the Lombard plus it's much prettier than Bourg.

Still Bourg is a decent place to get started - particularly if you like the cycling atmosphere.

jim453

Moomaloid wrote:

Me and my buddy stayed in Oizans in the week leading up to the Alpe D'Huez stage of the Tour. It really is a mecca for Cyclists and yes its beautiful. Even if the weather was pretty naff for most of the week. Some amazing rides. In between the rain we squeezed in Lauteret-Galibier, Col D'Ornon, the Alpe and the Croix de Fer which was a real b!tch at the end of the week.. we're already planning on heading back next year...

Jim453 - the guy in the tent next to us rode up to Notre Dame.. we drove up in the rain one day and it was pretty frightening. Precipice stylee! Did u carry on across the dirtroad to the other side?

Sorry for intolerably late reply to this.

Weather was beautiful for our ascent to Villard Notre Dame but even then we just stopped at the village and descended the way we came. We wanted to climb the Alpe in the afternoon so were saving our legs.

The descent would have been tricky in the wet as the road (as you say) is indescribably precipitous.

In fact. I much preferred going up the mountains than coming down them. I thought I was going to love the descents but really did not. Descending a wet Alpe d'huez was actually quite upleasant, the road is incredibly busy with some very large vehicles.

The descent down the south side of the Galibier was dry but still frightening. The road defies description in it's lack of safety furniture and sheer drops involved. After a day's climbing over Glandon, Croix de Fer and telegraph, not to mention the Galibier itself the descent is mentally and physically taxing in a way I was not prepared for. I was clinging on for grim death.

inseine

Well done Jim for doing all those climbs in one day. The 'Alp' is not eh prettiest climb and it is busy, but you have to do it at least once. I descended la Madeleine in pouring rain and fog which wasn't much fun, plus I was freezing by the bottom. The apl's not a super fast descent but last week I descended the first bit of the Glandon on the Marmotte route and hit 91kph. That's a quick road and I found myself feathering the brakes on the straight because I didn't know the road. I like going up and coming back down!