Road Cycling Weekends in the French Alps
The French Alps are very well known for the Tour de France
road cycling race that occurs every year, often passing through our village of
St Jean de Sixt. Some of the great
mountain stage battles have happened in our area, making the Cols round here a
focus for road cyclists to come and conquer. Cols such as Col de la Colombiere,
Col des Aravis and Col de Forclaz are easily accessible by riding directly from
our door, making our fully-catered Aravis Lodge an ideal weekend road cycling base.
Road Cycling Weekend Routes
With numerous road cycling routes circling the Aravis mountains we can help your cycling group or club ride the circuits that will suit them in terms of experience and fitness. We support you fully on your rides in the area, meeting you on top of the Cols with our minibus to bring refreshments, talking through your routes on specially designed route cards and coming to pick you up if you can’t make it home (sometimes wine with lunch is just too tempting!)
The loops that are accessible from the Lodge are between
50km and 165km and cover everything from cruisy downhills to steep uphill
climbs. Remember that you are in the Alps now so the climbs are long and hard
but the descents are definitely worth it!
Cycling Route Examples
One of the easier circuits, maybe for a warm-up ride on day one, is the 2009 Time Trial route from the Tour de France – riding down to Lake Annecy, round the lake and over the Col de Bluffy. About 80km in distance, the terrain is fairly gentle for the most part – although the ride back to the Lodge is mostly uphill and therefore a bit tougher.
A harder ride might the Class one climb of the Col de la Colombiere, passing over Mont Saxonnax, through the village of Reposoir and up the 16.5km climb to the Col. You'll really appreciate what athletes the Tour de France boys are after this one!
For full details of all our road cycling weekends see our specific website www.bikeweekender.com or give us a ring on 0845 557 5983 to discuss the requirements of your group or club.