A coffee stop away from the Tour de France, to look at, dare we say it, a “French cultural thing“? Many foreigners and perhaps some French people too complain about the way coffee tastes in France but what if actually getting a coffee during your ride was the real problem?
As part of the series exploring roads used by the big races, here’s the Col de Menté in the French Pyrenees, a quiet climb with a tragic history.
In recent years the Alto de Arrate above the town of Eibar has been the final climb of the Tour of the Basque Country. It’s not so famous beyond the Basque Country but it must be infamous inside the World Tour peloton as it’s a brute.
You may have seen it on television but to ride it is a lesson in how TV coverage struggles to reveal the severity of some climbs.
Regularly used, rarely celebrated. The Col de Peyresourde is often a hyphen, linking different places during a stage of the Tour de France and that’s its charm, a crossing point with a useful halt at the top.
See the map above, is the white road running north-south familiar? Well done if you named the Col du Galibier in the French Alps, better still if you mention the Télégraphe and Lautaret passes too. Only many common mapping services don’t label these mountain passes so if you’re looking online these famous places they can be hard to find.
The Roads to Ride series here get used by some as help to pick a destination but once you’ve picked one road, what about all the other nearby ones? A quick departure from pro cycling to some tips for mapping your rides in the Alps and beyond.
This blog’s road to rides section is enduringly popular and consequently there’s stream of email enquiries from readers wanting to know which ones are best, often people are planning a trip to the mountains or even a first visit to Europe and want to visit the roads featured. It’s always difficult to rank them, but for the fun of it here is a suggested top-10, some famous and some that ought to be.
Switzerland’s Emosson dam has featured sparingly in pro races, more because of its location that its severity but all the more reason to explore this corner of the Alps. The Roads to Ride series here has referenced climbs all over the world but Switzerland has been skipped despite the country’s vast repertoire of stunning climbs, fine scenery and billiard-table tarmac so it’s about time to include one and hopefully more of the classics in the future.
On of the novelties of the 2018 Tour de France route is the use of back-road climbs, smaller routes that have long been skipped by the race. The Col du Pré is one of these, a side way to reach the majestic Cormet de Roselend but worth the detour because it’s a gem of a climb.
New for the 2018 Tour de France, the Plateau des Glières will feature during Stage 10. The gravel road at the top is novel and the climb to get there is tough too. Here is a closer look…
