Alpe D’Huez Weekend

If a full week riding your bike in the mountains seems like too much for you, why not try this excellent trip over the August bank holiday weekend in 2020?

The trip will take place from Friday 28th August until Monday 31st August 2020.

There will be two full days riding in between the two days for travelling to and from Bourg d’Oisans, where we will stay for the weekend.

The trip will be fully supported with transport from Geneva Airport on Friday and return there on Monday. We will also have mobile back up on the road to carry your extra clothing, drinks etc.

The trip is based at the foot of Alpe d’Huez in Bourg d’Oisans. We will stay there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

The riding in this area is nothing short of spectacular! Alpe d’Huez is probably the most famous climb used in the Tour de France and is on most rider’s bucket list. We will ride the Alpe as well as other fantastic climbs in the area over the two days riding.

In addition to Alpe d’Huez, we will ride The Col de la Sarenne, Les Deux Alpes, The Col de Croix de Fer and the Col de Glandon.

We recommend that you hire bikes as it will work out considerably cheaper than bringing your own bike on the plane for a weekend.

See details below for the itinerary.

Info/Arrival

Trip Dates: Friday 28 August 2020 – Monday 31 August 2020

Costs: Single Room: £795.00 per person / Twin Room: £645.00 per person.

Please note that the number of single rooms is limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Flights and bike hire (should you require it) will not be included in the cost. We can arrange bike hire for you if required.

Breakfast and dinner in the hotels or a local restaurant will be included in the cost. Wine will be provided with dinner. Lunch is not included.

Support will be provided throughout the trip. A van will accompany you on the ride and will carry drinks, snacks and tools. Two of our guides will accompany you on the road each day.

Any energy bars, drinks or nutritional supplements you require should be brought on the trip by you. Each person has their own preferences and it is best that you bring the products you like.

Friday 28 August

Arrive in Geneva and be driven to Bourg d’Oisans where we can check into the hotel and be fitted for hire bikes. We should have enough time to test the bikes on a short ride before heading to a local restaurant in the evening where we will enjoy a relaxed dinner.

Day 1

Saturday 29 August

Our first day of riding takes us out of Bourg d’Oisans and across the small bridge to the foot of the climb up to Alpe d’Huez. Almost everyone who enjoys cycling has heard of the famous 21 hairpins from the bottom up to the village, where each one bears the name of a rider (or riders) that have won a Tour de France stage on the mountain.

The climb itself is 13km long and rises around 1300m from the bottom so the average gradient is 10% all the way up. It’s quite a daunting first section but once you get into the rhythm of the climb it isn’t as hard as legend has it. (mind you, we won’t be racing!)

After reaching Alpe d’Huez, we can stop for a coffee and some photos before pushing on higher, out of the village and tacking the wild, remote slopes of the Col de la Sarenne. The col is about 400m higher than Alpe d’Huez village but feels much more remote.

After cresting La Sarenne, we head downhill on a very quiet road to the end of the lake below Les Deux Alpes. Here, we head upwards again for lunch in the village.

The climb is 9km long but isn’t as tough as Alpe d’Huez. The village of Les Deux Alpes is fairly lively with plenty of places to eat.

After lunch we can descend down to the valley and head back along the valley road to Bourg d’Oisans to end our day.

Day 1 Stats: 101km. 2591m ascent

View Map of Day 1

Day 2

Sunday 30 August

Two giants await us today! Both of these climbs are classed as HC climbs in the Tour de France.

First up is the 27km long Col de Croix de Fer. It starts about 8km down the valley from Bourg d’Oisans so we can get a warm up along the flat valley road before we start climbing.

If you look at the stats for the Croix de Fer / Col de Glandon, the average gradient is only about 5.5%. However, this climb is much harder than the figures suggest. For a start, there are at least 3km of downhill within the overall length plus another 4 km of almost flat road so when you are climbing , you rarely see anything that resembles 5.5%.

The climb though is a beauty. It’s long and quite tough but never so much that you want to give up. It always teases you with something special just up the road.

The summit allows us to rest and grab some food at the cafe and also to take some photos of the iconic Iron Cross, from which the climb takes it’s name.

From the summit we have two options available to us.

Firstly we can descend to the Maurienne Valley and climb the Col de Glandon from the north side. It’s a beautiful climb of 20km with a lovely, quiet road snaking up through meadows and with spectacular views behind you. * Please note that we will only take this option if everyone in the group agrees and we believe that everyone’s fitness is up to it.

Alternatively, if the Croix de Fer has taken most of your energy, we can descend 2km to the junction for the Col de Glandon and ride the 200m up the road to the summit. You will still have conquered the climb!

You will then descend the Croix de Fer back to Bourg d’Oisans.

Just so you know the stats, the full route described above is 145km with 4025m of climbing. The shorter option is around 80km with just over 2000m of climbing.

Day 2 stats: 80km. 2011m ascent

View Map of Day 2

Departure

What’s Included

Fun!

This trip is a short break where we climb some amazing, iconic climbs often used in the Tour de France. The food and wine is good in the evenings and the whole weekend in centred on you having as good a time as possible.

Hotels & Accommodation

All accommodation has been arranged for the dates highlighted in the tour.

Refreshments

The support vehicles will always make itself available to provide you with your refreshments. If you need a water refill on a climb, we will stop in a convenient place to help you out.

Evening Meals

We provide all of the evening meals along with wine either at the hotel or at carefully selected restaurants . Our tours aren’t just about great cycling they’re also about great food and enjoying ourselves.

Airport Transfers

We will pick you up and drop you off at the required airports.

Bike Storage
We understand how much you love your bike and we will do everything we can to help keep them safe. Each hotel we stay at has good quality bike storage and we supply additional chains and padlocks to ensure excellent security.

GPS Routes

As well as having a support rider and support van in close proximity we will also provide you with the routes so you can load them onto you navigation device. If you don’t have a navigation device we can rent you one locally.

Tools

We carry a comprehensive tool kit in the back of the support vehicle along with a number of basic replacement parts. Each member of our team is capable of helping with bike maintenance and basic repairs. We do advise however that you know how to disassemble and assemble your own bike and have the tools to do so. Please bring spare inner tubes and a puncture repair kit.

What’s Needed:

Fitness

Riding in the mountains is tough and we create our tours to ensure maximum levels of achievement which comes hand in hand with maximum physical exertion. For this reason we recommend a decent level of fitness and motivation. We will happily create routes for any level of fitness and experience so if you have any concerns please feel free to contact us, together we can come up with the best possible options to suit your needs.

Bike

For this tour, we suggest that you rent a bike locally in Bourg d’Oisans. The bikes are good quality and set up for riding in the mountains. The cost is probably less than you would pay to transport your bike on the plane.

Helmet

We expect you to wear a helmet at all times while riding.

Clothing

Please bring appropriate clothing. The climbs can be hot but the long fast descents can get cold especially if you are damp from the hard climb. Extra layers can be kept in the support vehicle so that you don’t have to carry them but please ensure that you bring good quality kit.

It is also advisable to bring good sun protection.

Major Climbs

Below are some of the major climbs you will ride during the trip. The list is subject to change depending on weather and group ability.

Col de Croix de Fer

Distance: 27.5km

Elevation: 1292m

Summit: 2064m

Max Gradient: 15%

Average Gradient: 4.7%

Cat HC

Alpe d’Huez

Distance: 13.2km

Elevation: 1071m

Summit: 1815m

Max Gradient: 13%

Average Gradient: 8.1%

Cat HC

Col de La Sarenne

Distance: 21.2km

Elevation: 1282m

Summit: 1999m

Max Gradient: 13%

Average Gradient: 6%

Cat HC

Les Deux Alpes

Distance: 9.82km

Elevation: 608m

Summit: 1652m

Max Gradient: 9.1%

Average Gradient: 6.2%

Cat 2

Alpe d’Huez – on everyone’s bucket list!

Col de Croix de Fer – A long but very beautiful climb

You will deserve some of these!