Val d'Isere is lined with modern apartments for skiers and more were being built and rammed in. The road through the town was at least wide and relatively flat. Once out of the town and after a couple of kilometres of straight road a sharp hairpin is reached and the climb begins in earnest. This was a great climb and by now the beauty was apparent. Verdant pastures bloomed with wild flowers and six months of snow was melting with water cascading off the rocks.The scenery is huge and expansive with long range views and the geological and glacial formations made it reminiscent of a geography field trip. The only disappointment were the large number of motorbikes and a few sports cars roaring up to the top.Towards the top there were banks of snow on one side of the road and the altitude began to be felt. At 2,770 metres it is the highest paved mountain pass in Europe and the summit felt more Himalayan than Alpine. For the first time on the trip it felt cold and I was glad of my gillet and jacket.
The summit cafe was shut so we veered off the main road to a skiing cafe called La Cascade where there were a large number of people skiing and snowboarding on the slopes above it. In order to get to the cafe we had to cross a small snow field in our cleats and carry our bikes which must have seemed somewhat incongruous to the onlookers. We got our cards stamped and chatted with another cyclist from the UK, even older than me, who had ridden up the other side this morning.
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| Col de L'Iseran: Plenty of snow still around at the highest paved col in Europe |
The route over the col has existed for hundreds of years as a mule pass and became an official road following a presidential decree in the 1920s with 600 workers toiling to make the road which was opened in 1937. But cyclists were scaling this before the road was completed. The local bishop decided to accompany the roadworks with the construction of a chapel – France’s highest – which was baptised Notre Dame de Toute Prudence, a useful tip for descending the other side.
The descent down to Bonneval-sur-Arc needed care with the huge number of motor bikes ascending the other way. The next village up the valley, Oratoire de la St Trinite, was reminiscent of a Hobbit village from afar but the road turned south westwards along the bottom of the L'Arc Valley so we didn't get a chance to see it close up. Twelve miles of easy valley riding took us to the ski resort of Lanslevillard where we stopped for an early lunch.
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| Waterfall on the descent of the Col de L'Iseran |
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| L'Arc Valley |
The road up the Col du Mont-Cenis was built by Napoleon between 1803 and 1810 and you can tell its a military road with five hairpin bends equally distributed along the route from base to summit and an even gradient of 8%. Prior to that the pass was well used by pilgrims in the middle ages on their way to Rome. It marks the border between France and Italy and has been used both in the Tour and the Giro d'Italia. For once I led up the the first few hairpins and was passed by Chris but Phil didn't pass me until near the summit - maybe an early sign that something wasn't quite right?
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| Col du Mont-Cenis |
We stopped at the top at a cafe for drinks in the shade and to get our control cards stamped and any thoughts of adding the the infamous and optional Colle delle Finestre later that afternoon were squashed.. The road then traversed the picturesque Lac de Mont -Cenis with several ascents and descents before the long and enjoyable descent on a smooth tarmac surface to Susa in Italy.
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| Above and Below: Lac de Mont-Cenis |
By the time the Roman town of Susa was reached the temperature had increased by at least 10 degrees Centigrade to the mid 30s and it was like entering into an oven. I didn't spot Chris and Phil who had stopped in the town's square and I continued out on the road to Oulx. Chris caught me up on one of the long drags out of the town and informed me that Phil had had enough and was going to try and get a train to Oulx - clearly emulating several riders in the 1904 Tour.
I was pretty shattered in the heat but still had some mental strength and somehow was able to get onto Chris back wheel and we made steady but slow progress along the Ripatio valley and the final climb to our evening's destination at Cesana Torinese (some 20 miles from Susa). We stopped in Oulx for a drink and Phil texted us to say that he had decided to get a taxi from Oulx to Cesana Torinese where we met him at our hotel (nearly 11 hours since setting out that morning).
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| Day 3 Route |
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| Italian starter |
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