Tour de France 2014 – Part 1

Post stage reports of my Tour de France 2014 – part 1, with Europe’s highest “natural” pass, the Iseran.

Bellentre

For my own Tour de France 2014, our first base camp was located in the Savoie, in a small village called Bellentre. This is less than 10 kilometers from Bourg-Saint-Maurice, almost opposite La Plagne.

After a smooth trip there, we settled in our apartment “Gîte les Grands Champs” around 13:00 – this gave me the opportunity to go out for a first ride, although it looked like it would rain.

And it did…

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Tour de France 2014 – Stage 1

Col du Petit Saint-Bernard

The col du Petit Saint-Bernard was cycled ‘according to the road book’ on Saturday, but I chose the alternative, i.e. both ends instead of combining it with a climb to Tigne.

The main road (N60) leading to Bourg-Saint-Maurice is not the best of experiences, but as it is (mostly) ‘false flat’, it offers a good warm up.

The ascend from Bourg-Saint-Maurice is not too difficult and not very busy either. The landscape and views alternate between open and ‘tree covered’, which amounts to an overall nice experience.

However, upon leaving la Rosière, there were no more hairpins and as the vegetation got more sparse, it was getting more windy and a bit chilly…

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