Option two: ride a sportive – but which one?

OK, so the Tour de France is coming to this country, but is it enough of a lure when the Alps or the Dolomites are calling you?

It’s not often you get the opportunity to ride some of the most fabled mountains in professional cycling, iconic Grand Tour climbs like Alpe d’Huez or the Passo Giau.

But with both La Marmotte and Il Maratona dles Dolomites taking place on the same weekend, it can only be one or the other, barring a seven-hour, 600km drive from the French Alps to the South Tyrol, and super human fitness levels.

So, which to choose?

It is clear neither are routes for the faint-hearted – La Marmotte contains almost 5000m of climbing on closed roads through the French Alps.

Billed as the ‘daddy of all sportives’, La Marmotte’s Gran Fondo route starts in Bourg d’Oisans and tackles passes such as the Glandon, at 1918m, the Telegraphe – a mere 1570m – and the Galibier (2642m).

These are followed by the Lautaret at 2057m and then the legendary 21 hairpins of the Alpe d’Huez.

As for the Maratona, its 138km takes in 4190m of climbing from La Villa to Corvara, including the Campolongo, Pordoi, the Giau and the Valparola.

Russ Corn, a company director from Dorset, who rode La Marmotte in 2012 and this year’s Il Maratona, said he would choose the Italian event.

“I guess you’ve got to decide whether you’re a Dolomites person or an Alps person,” he says. “I love the Alps, but the scenery in the Dolomites is indescribable – stunning.”

He’s quick to praise the level of organisation at Il Maratona, one that saw his rear wheel replaced within 400 yards of its failure and returned within 30 minutes of him finishing.

“I think the Maratona could be your first big European sportive – and what a first one,” Russ concludes. “The problem is, you would never better it in my view.”