I am currently planning a two week road trip to France in September. My only fixed goal is to ride the cinglé du ventoux because my dad dragged me up there on Mountainbikes when I was 12 and I want to see how I’m doing about 20 years later.
Any recommendations or must dos? I’m starting in austria and would prefer not to spend too much time in the car, with first and last day for driving.
I asked chatgpt (duh) for some route planning help and it recommended the following:
Col du Galibier
Col d‘Izoard
Col d‘Agnel
Col de la Bonette
Ventoux
Gorge de la Nesque
Dentelles du Montmirail
I‘m gonna skip Alpe d‘huez because I’ve been there before.
Do you want to ride from fixed bases or point-to-point?
There is plenty of nice riding in the French Alps. Some of the things the AI missed are the Gorges du Verdon, the Col de Turini, or the Cormet de Roselend via Col du Pré.
Gorges de la Nesque is lovely and not particularly challenging compared to the others on your list so could be an easy day or could be extended. Also, there is a beautiful hilltop town called Salt on that route that is surrounded by lavender fields and is a great place for a lunch or cafe stop.
+1 on Gorges de la Nesque - just a fantastically beautiful ride near Mont Ventoux so a good one to do either the day before or after tackling the mountain itself. When we did a Provence trip with Trek Travel a few years back, we did the mountain and Gorges de las Nesque based out of Bédoin, then we did a couple more days of great rides out of Gordes which is a lovely place to stay.
Gorges du Verdon looks fantastic, that goes on the list. I’ll check the links out as well, thanks.
I’m training for my first race end of August so I should be decently fit. I think up to 200km and 4000m climbing is doable although not something I want to do every day.
I’d also highly recommend the Pyrenees. Lots of fantastic climbs here ( I am based in Foix, where stage 4 of the TdF ends). The roads are very quiet, like a car per hour. And except for Tourmalet, you don’t get the crowds of motos like you do in the Alps. Lodging here is mostly gites and chambre d’hôtes.
Mount Ventoux (2 climbs in one day: first from Bedoin, then from Malaucène)
Cime de la Bonette
Col de Vars
Col d’Izoard
Col Agnel
Colle del Nivolet
The trip was a blast. I would say the highlights were Telegraphe+Galibier, Ventoux, Agnel and Nivolet (worth that extra drive despite being a dead-end climb).
Lots of options! With this I’m assuming you are moving from base to base with a car and riding for a few days in each location…
If you’re taking Mont Ventoux area as your start point and working your way back, I’d next head to the Mercantaur/Southern Alpes - around Barcelonette: the Cayolle-Champs-Allos loop[ is brilliant, plus the Cime de la Bonette (maybe the big Bonette-Larche-Lombarde loop), I’d also do the Agnel too (starting near Guillestre). Perhaps then move north and base yourself in Briancon (Izoard loop) or maybe skip that and (if you’re not bothered about Alpe d’huez [and miss Bourg d’Oisans]) base yourself in the Murienne valley: Croix de Fer (and Mollard), Telegraphe, Galibier, Lacets de Montvernier and Madeleine (and maybe drive up past Modane and do the Iseran). Although I think Bourg d’Oisans has great riding beyond the Alpe - the Sabot is a challenge, plus great riding to the south.
The Nivolet is a stunning climb - but you do have to make an effort to get round into Italy for it (especially if you’re also looking to get down to Mont Ventoux too). I’m also a massive fan of the Val d’Aosta.
When I plan out these kind of trips and look at how to space the jumps between where to base myself, I tend to work on the basis of what I can do in 2 hours (3 max) driving time - normally at the end of a day having ridden first.
