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July 25 Col du Glandon, Col de la Croix de Fer
Well, due to the epic driving required down the Croix de Fer, we didn’t get to do these climbs, and instead headed down through some more amazing scenery – truly spectacular summer alpine fields. The ski terrain is off the charts.
Driving up toward Glandon and Croix de Fer.
Water just leaches out of the hills here.
After a very tough drive down, we arrived in St Jean de Maurienne, which is the base of the start of the climbs of all the Grands Cols (Galibier, Croix de Fer, Iseran etc), see below. It’s not a particularly nice town. Very industrial, stuff shuts early. It’s probably worth staying up the road at St Michel de Maurienne, or even better, Bourg d’Oisans and attacking Glandon+Croix de Fer, Alpe D’Huez and Galibier from that side.
View France09 – Climbs in a larger map
We chilled out for the Gaibier – our final climb – the next day. We found a bar in town and Heinekenned up to watch the stage up the Ventoux which in my opinion was not exciting. What were the organisers even thinking? Unless they were thinking Contador was going to be done for doping, it was obvious he was going to SMASH everyone. And I do mean SMASH.
Anyway, this is an awesome part of the world. If you’re thinking about heading over, check out tdftips.com, a site with tips and tricks, AND a comprehensive (~50 page) guide for Touring the Tour.
Similar Posts:
- July 26 – Cols du Telegraphe, Galibier and beautiful Chamonix
- France pour le Tour: Itinerary
- July 24 – Alpe D’Huez
- July 23 – High French Alps transit to Bourg d’Oisans
- July 19 – L’Etape Reg, Ventoux Recce 2
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