Today we moved on from St-Jean-de-Maurienne to Eygliers, near Guillestre, ready for some climbs in the Southern Alps. As part of this move, I was able to repeat a ride that I did last year, over the Col du Telegraphe and the Col du Galibier. While not the highest col on this trip, the Iseran holds that particular record at the moment, the Galibier is truly magnificent.
We managed to find the same car park, in St-Michel-de-Maurienne, that we'd used last year, to unload the bike. While there, we met a young couple from the New Forest. He was about to embark on his first Alpine climb. He certainly had the kit for it, a very racy Bianchi machine. Once he'd passed me going up the Telegraphe, I didn't see him again until he arrived after me at the Galibier. He'd had time to stop for lunch with his family in Valloire, though!
The Telegraphe has been resurfaced in parts, removing the horrid patches that were like pave last year. The tour was due to use this route this year, until a tunnel collapse on road from the Col du Lautauret to Bourg d'Oisans put paid to that plan. Needless to say it was a huge improvement. The Telegraphe is not a particularly great climb, it's just what you need to do to get to the Galibier from the Maurienne valley.
The bike at the top of the Col du Telegraphe, in a picture that is remarkably similar to one I took here last year!
From the Telegraphe, the road runs down into Valloire, a major resort town which always seems to be busy. Whether I was just lucky, or whether everyone was at lunch, it was much less difficult to negotiate this year. Once through the middle, the road kicks up quite steeply, and it takes quite a time to haul yourself clear of the town. It's almost as though Valloire is trying to claw you back, preventing you from leaving.
A small part of the road up to the Galibier, with the outskirts of Valloire visible in the distance.
The road is steep and pretty straight as it climbs to the head of the wide valley. Then at Plan l'Achat, where there are a couple of cafes, it turns to climb the Eastern side of the valley via a series of irregular ramps and hairpins.
The views from near the top of the Galibier are spectacular
The road continues to rise across broken, rocky terrain to the tunnel, which allows through traffic to bypass the summit. For cyclists, however, the hardest kilometre remains, though, with ramps at 11%, taking you above the tunnel to the summit.
Bike and rider at the top of the Galibier. Conditions were much nicer this year.
Since we still had quite a distance to go to get to Eygliers, I rode down off the Galibier only as far as the Col du Lautaret where, after a quick hot chocolate, we put the bike back onto the car and drove the rest of the way. Good job too. The place we are staying is in a tiny hamlet just outside Eygliers. The road is extremely narrow and the car park a bit of a challenge. It's a wonderful spot, though.
The route down from the Galibier to the Lautaret is available on Garmin Connect.
The route down from the Galibier to the Lautaret is available on Garmin Connect.
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