Sporting Tours       Allos

The Route: 25 August - 08 September 2007

The Route is specifically designed to cover all the big alpine cols used on many Tour De France routes and to ride the actual roads of stages 8 & 9 of the 2007 Tour. In short some of the most spectacular roads on earth.


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Summary

Day 1 - Is arrival day with airport transfers from Geneva to the Campsite at Neydens, Day 2 - Acclimatisation, last minute preparation and a chance to explore the area, Lake Geneva is about a 15km ride North or if you prefer a more serious warm up try the climb to La Muraz over Mont Salève.

Days 3. Departing Neydens the hill you see from the campsite is our first ascent, Mt Salève which at the summit offers an unparalleled introduction to the Alps. Heading south and weaving our way to the Ski Area at Mont Frête we notch up two more cols; du Collet and des Glieres before a steep drop into the Gorges de Everaux.  We drop back out of the mountains here in order to swing around towards Cluses and take on the famous Col de la Colombiere to finish off the day in St Jean de Sixt.

Days 4 – 5 - 6. Over the next three days we will experience Alpine stages of TdF 2007 and then some more. From St Jean de Sixte to Albertville over the Col de Tamie then to Bourg St Mauruce via the breathtaking Cormet de Roseland followed by the final ascent of TdF Stage 8 in the shape of Montée d’Hauteville before rising to Tignes for the finish. The next day TdF Stage 9 takes us over two of the highest Alpine cols. Continuing from Tignes we climb past Val d’Isere and summit the Col d’Iseran, take a long 68km descent to St Michel de Maurienne ready for the winding, shady Col du Telegraphe followed by the mighty Galibier.  Another screaming descent sees us into Briançon for a rest stop. On day 6 we tackle the famous Col d’Izoard one of the most climbed cols on the TdF, with it’s own cycling museum at the summit. This followed by the alpine lakes and vistas of the Col de Vars.


Day Date   From To Km Mt Mi Ft
1 25-Aug S Arrive Geneva-transfer to Neydens
2 26-Aug S Neydens Neydens
3 27-Aug M Neydens Saint jean de Sixt 124 2,891 77 9,482
4 (TdF Stage 8) 28-Aug T Saint jean de Sixt Tignes 162 3,160 101 10,365
5 (TdF Stage 9)
 29-Aug W Tignes Briançon 174 2,925 108 9,594
6
 30-Aug T Briançon Les Thuiles 108 2,325 67 7,626
7
 31-Aug F Les Thuiles Dignes Les Bains 210 3,986 130 13,074
8 01-Sep S Dignes Les Bains Bedoin 169 1,954 105 6,409
9 02-Sep S Bedoin Nyons 105 2,300 65 7,544
10 03-Sep M Rest Day Nyons 0 0
11 04-Sep T Nyons Meaudre 173 3,600 107 11,808
12 05-Sep W Meaudre Bourg D'Oisans 202 3,272 125 10,732
13
 06-Sep T Bourg D'Oisans Bourg D'Oisans 83 2,437 52 7,993
14 07-Sep F Bourg D'Oisans St Jean de Sixt 177 4,796 110 15,731
15 08-Sep S Saint jean de Sixt Neydens - Geneva 56 125 35 410
     
      Totals 1,743 33,771 1,082 110,769
      Averages 145.25 2814.25 90 9231

Day  7. One of the most spectacular on the trip with climbs through the National Parc de Mercantour. Starting with the narrow, winding and beautiful Col d’Allos followed by a drop to the walled town of Colmars before the stiff but rewarding Col de Champs. Then through the Gorges de Daluis and over the smaller hills to Dignes Les Bains, a fantastic Roman Bath town on the Provence Borders.

Days 8 – 9. From Dignes we track west through the beautiful town of Sisteron overlooked by it’s fortress cut into the rocks and onwards towards Sault and Bedion stopping in the shadow of the Giant of Provence. After climbing the Ventoux we head to Nyons the capitol of French Olive Oil. Here we take a well-earned rest day in this busy and interesting Romanesque town.

Day 10 Rest Day in Nyons – Say ‘Goodbye’ to the 1 week riders who will be transfered to Nimes for departure.

Day 11 – 12. After a rest day in Nyons we head north through the Drome region to the Vercors. Also know as the ‘Pre-Alps’ this area offers some more spectacular riding through the steep sided valleys and gorges where the roads are cut into the rock face. A Stop in the valley town of Meaudre is followed by a loop past the famous Mt Aiguille, with suitable climbs, and on into the Alpine Cycling Mecca of Bourg d’Oisans via Col d’Ornan. 

Day 13 .  A chance to climb the iconic Alpe d’Huez and then go onto the higher Col de Sarenne and finish off the day with an ascent of Les Deux Alps. Then back to base at Bourg.

Days 14 – 15. The penultimate day of the trip is a classic Tour de France stage. First climbing the Cold du Glandon before taking on the Madeleine, Tamie and Croix Fry to reach the day’s destination back at St Jean de Sixte. The final day is an easy run out of the mountains returning to our starting camp at Neydens.