The Haute-Savoie, north of the Savoie, is also part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Its prefecture is Annecy and the first Winter Olympics in 1924 were held in Chamonix(-Mont-Blanc)
There are no less than 158 entries for the cols in the Haute-Savoie on Climbfinder.
I’ve pinned some of the more famous ones and/or those on VeloViewer’s “100 Greatest” list on the map and will list a few more in this post.
Thônes
Getting to the Haute-Savoie, from Albertville to Thônes, via Ugine, the road is steadily ascending up to the first two cols near Faverges:
- Col de l’Épine (Marlans)
- Col du Marais (Saint-Ferréol)
The former connects to the latter in Serraval and the Marais was in a Dauphiné stage I previously discussed, but it wasn’t marked.
Once in Thônes, there are two routes to Saint-Jean-de-Sixt:
- Col des Aravis (#66) – the other end is an alternative entry to the area, starting in Flumet. This could be combined with the Col de Saissies or Signal de Bisanne, making it a lot harder. On the upside: the climb up the Col des Aravis from Flumet passes the Cascade du Dard, not to be mistaken with the waterfalls by the same name near the Mont-Blanc tunnel 😂
- Col de la Croix Fry (#65)- there’s a 2,5 kms flat-ish stretch off the summit to the Col du Merdassier for an extra trophee
Le Grand-Bornand
Next, the Col de la Colombière (#63) is a regular appearance in the Tour de France – from either end, it was included in a stage 23 times.
North of Le Grand-Bornand, starting in Le Petit-Bornand, the number 2 ranked Col de Cenise is probably best to be avoided.
It scores 625 difficulty points less than Monte Zoncolan, but 860 altimeters over 6.9 kms – there’s a kilometer that doesn’t count – or a 12.5% average is not really my cup of tea.
(Nearby Chalets des Auges ranks number 1, despite a lower average of 9.3%)
There seems to be a connection to the other end from Thuet or Marnaz (les Frachets) and the Col de Cenise’s summit is at 1,724 meters.
But that connecting stretch is probably not cycle-able and/or Paula will not be able to follow by car.
The climb starting on the other side of Le Petit-Bornand, the Col de Glières is 24% “easier” than the Cenise.
I’ve only done that virtually on my Neo 2T as part of the L’Étape du Tour 2018 and that was already more than enough…
Cluses
If I want to “finish” that Haute-Savoie Dauphiné stage I discussed, I would have to cycle up a neighboring climb: Col de Solaison.
With 1,074 difficulty points (rank 2) not any easier than the Cenise…
The Solaison and les Frachets are not the only climbs in the area:
- The other end of the Cenise/les Frachets, ranked 4th in difficulty
- Mont Saxonnex – a freebie if you cycle on to the Cenise “summit”
- Col de Romme – the other end splits off the Colombière (descent) in Reposoir
- Col de la Colombière‘s other end
- Flaine/Col de la Pierre Carrée – a dead end too
- Les Gets – two near identical alternatives
- Col de la Ramaz – lastly included in 2023’s Tour de France stage 14
Morzine
Morzine is about as far out as I will get in the Haute-Savoie and it’s bordering on Switzerland.
A trip to or from Albertville in the car will be over two hours…
Cols of interest around Morzine:
- Col de Joux Plane (#62) – 13 appearances in the Tour, lastly in 2023, in the same stage 14. It was never included starting in Morzine
- Col de l’Encrenaz
- Lac des Mines d’Or – might be worth the effort
Other
Cols of interest – on VeloViewers “100 Greatest” list – that will be hard(er) to plan into a stage:
- Col du Corbier (#60)
- Col de la Joux Verte/Avoriaz (#61) – considered a twin city to Morzine, there have been a few Tour stages with a finish in Avoriaz
- Semnoz (#64)
So much for the Haute-Savoie – I’ll dedicate another post to possible options outside the areas already covered, mainly the Maurienne Valley…
