Tick off climbs from your bucket list
Tick off climbs from your bucket list
If you’re a keen rider and a big pro cycling fan, the chances are you have a fantasy ‘bucket list’ of roads you want to ride. Whether these are in Belgium, France, Italy or Spain, crossing climbs like Alpe d’Huez, the Col du Tormalet or even the Koppenberg off your list is a fantastic feeling.
And part of the beauty of the Alps is that it’s not too hard to stay in one place and have access to multiple climbs. Take Bourg d’Oisans, for instance. It’s famous as the town at the foot of Alpe d’Huez, but the Galibier, Les Deux Alpes, Col de la Croix de Fer, the entire route of the Marmotte sportive and many other less heralded climbs like the Col d’Ornon or Col du Sarenne. If you spent a week here you could literally ride a different mountain every day and gain thousands and thousands of vertical metres.
There’s also the chance to nip over into Italy to iconic climbs like Sestriere, Tignes or the Colle dell’Agnello (called the Col d’Agnel if you start in France). And don’t forget the mighty Col d’Iseran, the highest paved mountain pass in the Alps at 2,770 metres. In fact, if you start at Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the climb to the Iseran is a ridiculous 48km, albeit at an average gradient of 4 percent.
There are so many famous climbs in the Alps, the only trouble you’ll have will be fitting as many in as you can.