Road bike tours in the Maurienne - mountain pass tours from the climbers' campsite
The Maurienne in the department of Savoie is an area in the French Western Alps that encompasses the valley of the river Arc and its side valleys. Our location in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is about 130 kilometres south of Lake Geneva as the crow flies in south-eastern France. The town itself is a good 500 metres above sea level and the surrounding peaks are around 3,000 metres high. A number of well-known Alpine passes can be reached without a car transfer, which is why the town calls itself the "world capital of mountain bikers" and the "largest cycling area in the world". The highest point of the tours described here is the Col du Galibier (2,642 m). Other classic tours in the region that can be reached by car include Alpe d'Huez, Val Thorens and the Col de l'Iseran.
It is as mountainous as you would expect from the "Capital mondiale des vélo grimpeurs". However, the passes rarely climb by more than ten per cent - which, with climbs of over 20 kilometres in length, still requires a good level of fitness and gearing that is suitable for mountain biking. While a railway line, a motorway and a trunk road (some with cycle lanes or alternatives) converge in the busy valley, the smaller passes are rather lonely.
