On that basis, I set off from Bourg St-Maurice with the intention of riding to the Tignes barrage, meeting up with Angela and driving to Val d'Isere for the final assault on the summit.
The route leaves Bourt St-Maurice on the same road as the Col du Petit St-Bernard, separating from it in Seez. The route is pretty flat from there, and actually heads down for a few kilometres, Climbing proper begins at a set of hairpins just before the village of Sainte-Foy-Tarantaise. The gradient kicks up past 7% and while it varies, it ever really relents. There are sections beyond 8%.
It was very hot today, so the shaded sections in woodland were welcome, but out of the shade, the sun was scorching. While there are no tunnels on this section, there are avalanche protectors, whose sturdy concrete construction is testament to the power of water in liquid and solid form. They also provided some blissful relief from the sun.
To be honest, there is not much to see on the way up, other than the occasional waterfall, and it's not until reaching the barrage itself that the views really open up. Aside from getting some additional miles in my legs, there wasn't much to recommend this particular climb. The next section, however, is a very different matter.
The route from Bourg St-Maurice to the barrage at Tignes is available on Garmin Connect.
The ride from Val d'Isere to the top of the Iseran is quite simply epic. In some ways, it resembles the top of the Galibier, though there is much more evidence of man near the top. There are ski lifts everywhere. Once clear of Val d'Isere, the road heads up. Again the gradients are in the 5-9% range and vary quite frequently. Heading east for the first 5 km or so was into a block headwind. The road crosses a river at Pont St-Charles and soon heads back west on the far slope. The tail wind was very welcome. The views from this section are simply stunning. The traffic was quite light today, and during periods when it was quiet, I could almost believe I was alone with this awe inspiring landscape.
The air is noticeably thinner up here. The gradients steepen just before the summit, becoming 9 and even 10% in places. Even once the buildings at the top can be seen, there are still 3 km to go. The combination of gradient and altitude definitely make this the hardest part. At 2770 metres, the Iseran is comfortably the highest point I've been to by bike. It will also be the highest point on this year's trip, unless I make it up the Cime de la Bonette next week.
The route from Val d'Isere to the Col de l'Iseran is available on Garmin Connect.
Leaving the top of the climb, and heading for the Maurienne valley, the slopes are about the same as on the Isere side. However, this side is unspoiled, with no evidence of ski lifts or other winter paraphernalia. I quickly built up speed and was enjoying the descent when a bout of uncontrollable shivering set in. After last years experiences coming down the Galibier, I found the next available patch of sunshine and stopped to warm up before continuing down at a more reasonable pace.
Further down the mountain, as the temperature rose, I increased the pace again and ended up flying down the last few ramps to Bonneval-Sur-Arc. I even had a camper van pull over to let me through!
I finished the ride in le Villeron, a village a few flat kilometres beyond Bonneval-sur-Arc which has the benefit of a large car park.
The route down from the Col de l'Iseran is available on Garmin Connect.
The climb from Bonneval-Sur-Arc looks to be steeper and more difficult than from Val d'Isere. Either way, this is a fabulous ride. Just do yourself a favour and ignore the part from Bourg-St-Maurice to Val d'Isere.
We drove the rest of the way to St-Jean-de-Maurienne, our base for the next few days. This region is now promoting itself as the premier cycling location in the Alps. I suspect Bourg-d'Oisans might feel a bit miffed at that, but with the Lautaret currently closed due to a rock fall in one of the tunnels, St-Jean-de-Maurienne certainly has a good claim.
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