“As base camp for my Tour de France 2024, Albertville is as strategically located as is Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.”
If you look at the map of the area, you’ll understand why: it’s riddled with climbs.
I’ve marked a lot of them, some more famous than others.
The (more) famous ones and/or those on VeloViewer’s “100 Greatest” should end up on the “must do list” and I’ll construct stages with them later on.
However, there are many, many more.
Albertville
In the immediate vicinity, these are some of the climbs:
- Col de Cyclotouristes – starting at my doorstep, two alternatives
- Col de la Forclaz
- Col de Tamié (#70)
- South of Albertville there are two “Routes Forestière“, which usually are little more than goat paths: Croix de Dormiaz and Bénétant – I think I’ll skip these…
Between Aiton and Pontcharra, there are two more dead ends:
I don’t think these will fit into my schedule, other than (going out of my way) during the Prologue…
Then there are several more, starting in or around Ugine, just north of Albertville.
- The other end of the Col de la Forclaz
- Col de l’Arpettaz – no less than four alternatives, one with an abundance of hairpins
- Fort de l’Alpettaz – a spaghetti of roads leading out of Marthod, always hard for me 😂
- Signal de Bisanne
The Signal de Bisanne has numerous alternatives, most of them starting along the road to Villard-sur-Duron and Beaufort.
Chambéry
I can construct a stage including three VeloViewer “100 Greatest” cols:
- Col du Granier (#72)
- Col du Cucheron (#73) – not Col du Grand Cucheron (#71)
- Col de Porte (#74) – “just” the last 8 km from Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse
Beaufortain Valley
The area around Beaufort is home to a few more cols:
- Col du Joly
- Col du Pré – cycled in 2021
- Cormet de Roselend (#68) – cycled in 2021 via Col du Pré and in 2014
- Col des Saisies (#67) – alternative to the one also starting in Villard-sur-Doron, which I already did back in 2014, same ride as the Cormet.
- Plan du Mont – a dead end off the Cormet de Roselend
- Lac de la Gittaz – another dead end off the Cormet de Roselend
- Barrage de Saint Guérin – splits from the Col du Pré near Arêches. You can actually get to Aime-la-Plagne, but not on a road bike, let alone in a car. See below for the “connecting” climb Plan Pichu…
The various alternatives of the Col de Saisies and Signal de Bisanne have several stretches in common.
Down from the summit of the Cormet de Roselend towards Bourg-Saint-Maurice, there’s another dead end col: La Vallée des Glaciers.
This might be partly unpaved, but I’ll find out if/when I get there.
I have also dedicated a Tour de France 2021 recon to this area.
Tarantaise Valley
Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Bourg-Saint-Maurice is close to where we stayed the first week of the Tour de France 2014.
Between Bourg and Moutiers, there almost are too many climbs and alternatives to list.
I’ll list them anyway – cycling all of them might be impossible 😎
I’ve done most “famous” climbs and might opt for alternatives this Tour:
- Les Arcs – most interesting alternative via Bois de Saule
- La Plagne (#77) – a three-way split at La Plagne 1800 and another two-way split at La Plagne Centre – I don’t think I’ve been (up) to Belle Plagne and I need to complete the VeloViewer 100 Greatest segment of this climb
- Col de l’Iseran (#78) / Tignes – I’ve not cycled either alternative to Tigne from Bourg
- La Savonne – parts from the route up the Iseran / Tignes at Saint-Foy-Tarentaise
- Col du Petit Saint-Bernard (#69) – I’ve done the “standard” climb, but my official time for the VeloViewer segment is 2:34, as I probably stopped a couple of inches from the required end point…
Other, lesser known, climbs in this area:
South of the N90
- Montée de Peisey-Nancroix – I actually went down this climb when descending from les Arc 1800, to which it connects
- Les Bettières – or Refuge de Rosuel, also from Landry and a split of the above
- Le Sauget, which connects to les Bauches
- Les Bauches – either from Landry or Bellentre
- Les Granges
- Col du Tra
- Notre-Dame-du-Pré – in 2012, in the town by that name, I cycled on to La Plagne, so I’ll see if I can squeeze the rest in.
North of the N90
These climbs are less of an option judging on what I can find about them, but I’ll see…
- Plan Pichu – most interesting climb on this side. On a mountain bike – or on foot – you can get to the “connecting” climb Barrage de Saint Guérin from Beaufort (Arêche)…
- Saint Guéren / Forand – despite its name, this is not the other end of the climb above and I don’t think it’s a viable cycling route on a road bike.
- La Pesée – not sure about this one either as I cannot “Google Map” it. If it is cycle-able, I should be able to get to Le Boulissoir further up.
- La Combe
- La Frutière de Montgirod
- Col du Pradier – the other end starts in Moûtier, joins this one in Le Villard and (both) can be extended to Chalets de la Faverge
All of these have (average) grades that make me shit my pants, but apart from Plan Pichu, they may not make it into the road book anyway…
Moûtiers
From Moûtiers and along the way to Brides-les-Bains / Bozel, some cycled and more not yet cycled climbs:
- Feissons-sur-Salin
- Val Thorens – two alternatives; I linked to the alternative, which joins the climb I did in 2012, just before Les Belleville.
- Tougnète – up to Les Menuires this follows the same climb as Val Thorens; Tougnète is ranked as 2nd toughest climb in the French Alps, outranked by the Col du Galibier (#87) only…
- Les Menuires – Val Thorens – apparently, there’s a bicycle lane which we didn’t notice in 2012, but it may have been constructed later
- Col de la Coche – a side-road off Val Thorens to a lake by the same name
- La Sauce – another side-road off Val Thorens, further up near Saint-Jean-de-Belleville
- Meribel – part of a clusterfuck ride in 2021 and properly ticked off in 2022
- Col de la Loze – I’d rather eat dirt than do that one again, but I might opt for the easier alternative from the east
- Courchevel (#76) – deserves a rematch, as both in 2021 and 2022 I didn’t really climb any of it
- New kid on the block: Col de la Platta – forks off Courchevel in Courchevel-Moriond, partly gravel
- Le Prioux – ideal to combine so that you get three for one: Pralognan-la-Valoise (that’s really a freebie) and Plan Fournier.
- Make that four if you get Le Laissonay in on the return…
- La Cour
Between Albertville and Moûtiers
Other than the two RF’s mentioned above, there are several other climbs between Albertville and Moûtiers, one of which is famous:
- Col de la Madeleine (#75) – finished me off in the same clusterfuck ride mentioned above, more successfully cycled in 2014
- Bonneval – not sure if there is a cycle-able road past the town
- Lachat – a mostly ignored side road of the Madeleine, but it reaches almost the same altitude in under 9 kilometers, where the Madeleine from that point is still over 15 kms to go. Not sure if the tarmac is okay, though…
- Mont d’en Haut – from the same junction as Lachat and only half as long, but just as menacing…
- Refuge du Logis des Fées – another road off the Madeleine and another 10-10-10 average all the way. Road condition may be a reason to avoid it – apparently, it’s narrow AF…
- Combelouvière
- Valmorel – two alternatives
- Grand Naves and the other end
I’ll zoom in on other areas in my next post(s).
