Cyclopaat, an alter ego with a twist
The (Lepape) Marmotte Alpes is another Granfondo on many cyclists’ bucket list. I am one of them and I cycled it all by myself in 2021.
An ongoing display of “Too much time on my hands” and “I have no life”…
I have added pages for my favorite Granfondos – I know you love it 😂
They are: the Maratona dles Dolomites, the Marmotte Alpes and the Sella Ronda Bike Day.
Yes, I could have spared myself the effort of creating a page for the latter, as it is part of the long version of the Maratona.
Did you not understand the first sentence of this post?
Yes, I did use that title before – thank you for so closely following / reading my blog 😂
However, at the time I spoke about my plans to do two of them, Sestriere (La Marmotta) and the classic Marmotte Alpes during that Tour de France of 2017.
Both were a bust, whereas I didn’t even start the classic, due to the short days and weather conditions, and had a flat with no spare tube(s) during the La Marmotta.
This year, being located at an even better spot to start it, I finally did ride the Marmotte Alpes, but with a twist…
Exploring the climbs and passes for my Tour de France 2021, I’ve started with those in and close to our base camp, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
In my two previous posts, I’ve covered the possibilities a bit further away, not requiring a car transfer before getting on my bike.
Today’s post concentrates on climbs which do need a car transfer.
Well, all except one…
So, thanks to the ongoing pandemic and subsequent “no fly” policy in the family, I got another cycling adventure this year.
As we were going to France, I have obviously and as usual dubbed it “Tour de France 2021”.
While I did feel sorry for Paula’s not getting her well deserved sun vacation, I was also excited at the prospect of having another go at the giants of the French Alps.
I was thinking (again) to plan for the Pyrenees, but I eventually couldn’t withstand the temptation of a remake of part one of my Tour de France 2014.
That was way too short – not the tour, just the first part – to tackle everything that’s in that area.
So for the Tour de France 2021, we rented an apartment in Saint-Jean-de Maurienne, which is located at the base of the…
Drum Roll
Anyone familiar with the Savoie area, will know that a bit further south, you’ll find Saint-Michel-de Maurienne, at the base of the Télégraphe / Galibier.
Or the fork to Valmeinier, which I did take on this time, unlike in 2014, when I didn’t have the time.
North of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, La Chambre is (near) the starting point for the climbs up the East end of the Glandon and the west end of the Madeleine.
Not to mention that in between those two, the Lacets de Montvernier seems to be a “must” and that (short) snake was a first for me.
I have dedicated several posts discussing the various alternatives and climbs starting at our doorstep (Col du Mollard, La Toussuire, Les Sybelles – too many) and further out.
That included a stage with the Iseran from Modane and some of the cols between Albertville (Beaufort), Moutiers and Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
Méribel and Courchevel were new to me in that area, but La Plagne, Les Arcs and the majestic Roselend were not.
The latter I eventually climbed from Beaufort, via the Col du Pré.
And yes, a Marmotte alternative was in the back of my head again too and if I did, I would get my 10th Alpe d’Huez ascend in the books 🙂
In the menu to the right of this page – or at the bottom, if you’re reading this on your smartphone – you’ll find links to everything you never wanted to know, but maybe will dream of doing yourself one day too.
Let’s just say that this Tour de France 2021 for sure did include a jubilee 10th ascend of the Alpe d’Huez 🎉
Tour de France general (overview) page here.
As much as I like to destroy myself in the Dolomites, I have no problem with organizing my own versions of the ‘Tour de France’.
Although my cycling heart yearns for Italy, Paula is more charmed with the French part of the Alps, so sometimes you have to compromise 🙂
Although ‘sometimes’ eventually became ‘most of the time’ as a Giro d’Italia became more and more expensive…
We planned a first trip to the French Alps in the summer of 2010.
But Paula ended up in the hospital on our day of departure, so those plans were put on ice until 2014.
Since then, we went back for more ‘Tour de France’ adventures several times.
And in 2023, I finally got the cycle (part of) the French Pyrenees…
