France: 4 road bike tours in Cantal - Département Cantal: Volcanic mountains in the Massif Central
The department of Cantal lies just south of the centre of France, in the south of the Massif Central - it is around 300 kilometres to the Mediterranean coast near Montpellier. The département has a medium mountain range and is named after the highest mountain in the region, the volcanic Plomb du Cantal (1,855 metres). The area is the epitome of rural France, sparsely populated and a dream for people who love being outdoors: Hikers, cyclists, mountain bikers and paragliders ...
Just a glance at the map shows: The Département Cantal has a dense network of secondary roads, and it turns out that most of them are in impeccable condition. There are constant ups and downs - the French call them "montagnes russes", Russian mountains, which means rollercoaster here. "I can show you routes where you will easily have 2,000 metres of elevation gain in your legs after 50 kilometres," says Monsieur Felgines from Aurillac, chairman of the cycle tourism association in the département. In addition, the landscape of the regional nature park "Volcans d'Auvergne" offers spectacular views after almost every bend. The small town of Aurillac (27,000 inhabitants), seat of the prefecture of the Département of Cantal, is the perfect starting point for road bike tours.
You can find the complete travel article with these tours including the GPS data in the download area below:
- Tour 1: Pass to the Puy Mary (103 kilometres, 1,800 vertical metres, max. 8% gradient)
- Tour 2: Over the Col du Pertus (88.5 kilometres, 1,800 metres in altitude, max. 13 % gradient)
- Tour 3: Cooling off at the reservoir (125 kilometres, 2,200 metres in altitude, max. 15 % gradient)
- Tour 4: Through the Lot Valley (115 kilometres, 1,800 metres in altitude, max. 10 % gradient)
