Back in the Tour de France for only the second time the Grand Colombier is an unheralded climb that offers a physical test and then rewards with impressive views.
Travel
Roads to Ride: Joux Plane
This will be the final climb of the 2016 Tour de France. It’s an unusual climb in the French Alps, a true mountain instead of a ski station access road. What’s it like to ride on a normal day?
Roads to Ride: Combe Laval and the Vercors
The Critérium du Dauphiné heads for the Vercors, a high plateau surrounded by precipitous cliffs. The race takes the Col du Rousset, an impressive road but other approach roads are even more stunning. The Combe Laval is famous for its vertigo-inducing cliffhanger section, a narrow road cut into the cliff with a terrifying drop off the side. But is it France’s most overrated road?
Roads to Ride: Passo Mortirolo
Is it the name? Mortirolo sounds like morte, death in Italian, and certainly more appropriate than the foppish Passo della Foppa name that is also given to the pass. A relentless climb and one of the few ascents to become famous without being a “summit” finish. Here’s a closer look.
Roads to Ride: Abetone
The first summit finish of the 2015 Giro d’Italia, the road up Monte Gomito to Abetone is something to look forward to but also a worry. It’s harder than the profile suggests and coming at the end of Stage 5 it could reveal who will win the race outright. Fanciful? Not really, it’s happened before.
But enough fretting about the future, it’s been a classic climb and the launchpad for Fausto Coppi’s first Giro win. But most of time the Passo dell’Abetone is a regular destination for thousands of cyclists in central Italy keen to test their form on a long climb.
Roads to Ride: Col de l’Iseran
The King of the Alps. Europe’s highest mountain pass is more regal still thanks to the views and its length. At 48km this France’s longest paved climb. Used sparingly by the Tour de France, it’s a big high altitude test in two parts, a busy traffic artery, then the calm upper slopes.
Roads to Ride: Plateau de Beille
A new edition to the Tour de France in recent years, this Pyrenean this climb features again in July. It’s a tough challenge but a dead end and outside of the Tour de France, a peaceful road that seems be used by cyclists and few others.
Roads to Ride: Monte Zoncolan
For decades the Giro visited its classic climbs. For good reason as the Stelvio, Pordoi and Gavia are as difficult as they are beautiful. But it wasn’t enough for some and the hunt was on for new challenges and in 2003 the Giro tackled Monte Zoncolan.
Viewed from afar it’s just 10km long and only reaches 1,730m above sea level but it is one of the steepest roads in the sport and has quickly become one of the most feared climbs.
Roads to Ride: The Col de Turini
The Col de la Madone is the climb used by many Monaco-based pros to test their form. If the top of the climb can be a finish line, it’s also a gateway, once over the pass a range of riding options open up. When riders want a longer and more Alpine style climb the Col de Turini is often the default choice.
Made famous by motorsport and picked by TV pundits Top Gear as one of the top-10 roads in the world it is also a superb place for cyclists.
Roads to Ride Map
All of the roads featured in the Roads to Ride series can now be located by map.