TdC Overview and Features

If like many others you have completed numerous the Etape du Tours, conquered the Ventoux and the Marmotte Sportifs and perhaps even taken part in flatter multi-stage events, then Tour des Cols really is the next logical challenge. It’s a totally unique event, the only 3-stage mountain cyclospotive that offers a Pro-Cyclist experience for amateur riders.

Starting from Geneva, the route travels the roads of classic climbs featured for decades in the Tour de France. The 400km course with a total 10,000m elevation gain includes two exciting mountaintop finishes, the last of which is made upon the most iconic climb of all, Alpe d’Huez. On this the third and final stage, the famous 21 hairpins will await riders after a challenging ‘Mini-Marmotte’ experience having scaled the Col du Télégraphe and the mighty Col du Galibier prior to the final assault. Other classic climbs featured include Col de la Colombière, Madeleine, Aravis, Mont Salève, Mont Saxonnex, Col des Saisies and a climb to the ski town of La Toussuire.

If the challenge sounds a little extreme it’s worth remembering that every year at events across the UK and Europe riders push the boundaries way further than they believed possible. The satisfaction of training for and achieving a huge goal with friends old and new stays with you for a long time. And don’t forget all Tour des Cols Riders will enjoy the full service support including mechanical, sag and feed stations akin to that offered to the pro-peleton, providing the very best chance to put in a memorable performance. Our 3* Plus quality hotels have been hand-picked to offer exactly what riders need to recover each evening, with pool and sauna facilities included. Just turn up, concentrate on the riding, and enjoy the camaraderie and shared sense of adventure. No other event offers this size of challenge on such classic roads. No other event offers the opportunity to do it in such style.

At £649 GB Pounds per rider (sharing room) this event is limited to 50 riders.

Single Room Supplement: £125 GB Pounds

What’s Included:

  • 3 Etape du Tour size mountain stages
  • 10+ Classic Alpine Climbs: all categories
  • 4 Nights Half Board in 3*-Plus Quality Hotels (Breakfast and Evening Meals)
  • Feed stations during each of the three stages
  • Bags Transferred on each stage
  • Swimming Pools and Sauna Facilities at Hotels
  • Bike Storage facilities at Hotels
  • Arrival Transfers from Geneva Airport to start location
  • Coach Transfer from Alpe d’Huez to Geneva Airport after finish
  • Fully Marked Route
  • Electronic Chip Timing
  • Stage and Overall Classification
  • ‘Grimpeur’ King of the Mountain Award
  • Personal Gold/Silver/Bronze Awards
  • Full Pro-Rider Package including Numbers and ‘Ride Manual’
  • On road Mechanical and Rider support
  • Arrival Reception & Ride Briefing
  • Awards Ceremony & Finale Reception

What’s Not Included

  • Travel to and from Geneva Airport
  • Drinks with meals
  • Lunch on Monday 25th Aug
  • Single Room Supplement
  • Personal Travel / Accident Insurance
  • Unpacking & packing your bike

 

The Route


Day 0 (Evening) Riders assemble, transfers from Geneva Airport to start hotel at Archamps, dinner and briefing reception


Day 1 (122km 2,900m) There is no way to make a gentle introduction, the climbing starts straight out of the box. The ascent of Mont Saleve (1176m) a local beauty spot popular for outdoor activities is clearly visible from the hotel and begins literally 2km from the start-line. At 9km and an average 11% grade it represents a pretty brutal introduction to the tour, however the reward is one of the very best visual introductions to the Alpes, which lay stretched out before riders as they hit the summit. A short drop into La Muraz and run through the foothills precedes a shaded & wooded climb to Mont Saxonnex (1000m). Another cruising descent tracing the route around the low alpine outcrop of the Chain de Bargy joins up with the lower slopes of today’s big climb, 14.5km to the Col de la Colombière (1618m). A truly classic climb passing through green alpine meadows, small villages and rising to an exposed and often windy road that cuts into the rock before pushing on to the summit. A roaring descent through Le Grand Bornand, a popular feature in countless Tour de France Stages, St Jean de Sixt and the ski town of La Clusaz introduces the final climb of the day, Col des Aravis (1487m). Certainly not the toughest climb on the tour but one of the most attractive, rising to a gentle summit through a picture postcard green alpine valley, followed by a rapid set of hairpins that dump out at Flumet just 10 short kilometres from the finish at the picturesque town of Mégéve.


Day 2 (155km 3,700m) After the short descent back to Flumet, hairpins start the climb to another ski area at Cols des Saisies (1650m) from where the 32km descent to the busy town of Albertville is fast and furious. A rolling run along the Terentaise Valley sets the scene for the major assault of this day the Col de la Madeleine (1993m) an iconic climb rarely excluded by the Tour. The 26km ascent from the North is the narrower road of the two and it winds its way past sheer drop-offs clinging to the valley walls before reaching the straight road over the summit. Another long descent into the famous Maurienne Valley sets up for the final climb to today’s mountaintop finish at La Toussuire (1650m). From St Jean de Maurienne the road follows the early stages of the climb to the Col de Croix de Fer, turning off after around 5km into pretty backroads to find the isolated but enchanting alpine ski town that is tonight’s stop La Toussuire. 


Day 3 (123km 3,500m) Today is the big one, a string of iconic climbs to challenge even the strongest sportive rider. A drop back to the Maurienne Valley and gentle rise to St Michel brings riders to the foot of the Col du Télégraphe (1556m). Whilst this is a Cat1 climb in itself, it actually forms the first stage of a 32km upward journey culminating at the Col du Galibier (2646m). Passing through Valloire at km 45 riders will begin the long drag up the valley that forms to approach the Galibier proper. After 9km of the hardest deceptively ‘flat’ road you will ever experience, at the end of the valley where the road can go no further it takes the only remaining option, skywards and climbs past the road tunnel to the grey rocky saddle that is the Galibier. An epic descent follows, some 47km to Bourg d’Oisans and the first of the final 21 hairpins to Alpe d’Huez (1850m) and the Grand Finish Line, awards, glory, satisfaction and…a rest.


Day 4 A chance to relax in luxury at the Alpe savour your achievements and share war stories prior to a coach transfer back to Geneva Airport for onward travel home.

Registration opens 15 Jan 2008 for pre-registration and to receive further updates click here