The Tour de France 2018 will feature 3 stages in the Alps, all of which are accessible from the Bike Weekender home base, but stage 10 in particular will pass right by our door, which we are really excited about.
All 3 stages feature some real thrills and challenges – including the Col de la Colombière, Plateau des Glières, Col de Romme, Cormet de Roseland, Col de la Croix de Fer, Col de la Madeleine, the infamous Lacets de Montvernier and a very welcome return to the beast that Alpe d’Huez.
Stage 10 – Annecy – Le Grand Bornand (169km)
Stage 11 – Albertville – La Rosière (108km)
Stage 12 – Bourg St Maurice – Alpe d’Huez (175km)
Check out the full tour route and see the stage profiles in 3D here…
We have an extra special 7-day ‘watch and ride’ package for the Tour de France 2018, where you will get to watch at least 2 stages live, as well as La Course, which is also on our home turf and finishes in Le Grand Bornand, and you get to ride many of the featured cols yourself. Find out more here.
The Tour de France route for 2017 is quite different from recent years – it features shorter, punchier climbs and less summit finishes.
It has also excluded many of the more iconic climbs we associate with the Tour, such as Mont Ventoux, Alpe d’Huez and the Col du Tourmalet.
Though it does still include some classics such as Col d’Izoard, Col du Galibier and the Col du Télégraphe, all of which we visit on our own Southern Alps trips.
This got us thinking here at Bike Weekender HQ, up in the Aravis mountains surrounded by stunning cols ourselves, many of which have been used in the Tour at some point in the past too.
We started to discuss which climbs we would include if we were to design our own Tour de France route.
They didn’t have to be ones we had personally ridden, just whatever our dream Tour de France parcours would look like.
So we decided to compile our own Fantasy Tour de France Route, with our top 9 cols.
Here are some of our team’s dream routes below – what would your’s be?
Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear about your own – feel free to add why you chose each climb too!
Bike Weekender’s Fantasy Tour de France Routes
Teak
Mont Ventoux, the Giant of Provence – Vaucluse (Ascents from Bédoin, Sault and Malaucène in one stage)
Plateau de Solaison – Haute-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Col de l’Arpettaz with its 42 switchbacks, from Ugine (via Mont Dessous) – Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Col de la Croix Fry – Thônes, Hautes-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Col de Romme, then on up Col de la Colombière – Haute-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Mont du Chat – Savoie (Jura Massif)
Col du Galibier – Savoie/Hautes-Alpes (Dauphiné Alps)
Col de la Forclaz de Montmin, above Lake Annecy – Haute-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Col de l’Épine, from Marlens – Haute-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Paul
Col de la Forclaz de Montmin, via Vesonne – Haute-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Col de l’Arpettaz – Haute-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Col des Saisies – Savoie (Northern Alps)
Col de la Colombière, from Reposoir / Scionzier – Haute-Savoie (Aravis Massif)
Col de la Madeleine – Savoie (Northern Alps)
Mont Ventoux via Gorge de la Nesque – Vaucluse (Jura Massif)
Alpe d’Huez – Rhône-Alpes (Southern Alps)
Col de la Croix de Fer – Rhône-Alpes (Dauphiné Alps)
Col d’Izoard – Hautes-Alpes (Southern Alps)
Paul’s Alternative Fantasy Tour de France Stage to Glières via Lake Annecy
In fact, Paul went a step further and also devised his own fantasy TdF stage as well, featuring one of his favourite rides in the area:
Start in Annecy – all the way around the lake, up over Col de Bluffy – and round to Thônes. Over the Col de Marais and Serraval – along and up Col de l’Arpettaz and then over Col des Aravis – dropping through St Jean de Sixt.
Then down to Entremont and up to the Plateau de Glières for a summit finish after crossing the gravel for 2km! 145km – 3997m elevation
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