France · Alpine
French alpine road cycling centred on long, high-mountain climbs.
Planning brief
Base yourself around Chamonix or Bourg-Saint-Maurice. The guide currently covers 78 route ideas across 4 riding styles, with the strongest fit in Mountain Bike.
Distances, climbing, costs and seasonality can change. Confirm the exact route, legal access, weather, transport and accommodation with current local sources.
Derived from each route's recorded surface, not from a bike review.
Every planner route here is graded Confident or Expert. Newer riders should treat this destination as a stretch, or pick a gentler base.
The archived BRouter files contain elevation values from a layer that is not cleared for commercial publication. The repair is to preserve the OSM-routed geometry, replace every elevation sample with NASADEM data, recalculate ascent and timing, and publish only after automated provenance and regression checks pass.
| Route | Style | Distance | Climb | Rider level | Bike | Third-party check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passo di Gavia (Ponte di Legno)Brutally steep upper sections. Road so narrow in places two bikes barely pass. | Road | 16.5 km | 1,173 m71 m/km | ExpertExtreme grade | Road, E-bike / touringtarmac · also gravel, mountain bike | Check on Strava ↗ |
| Passo dello Stelvio (Prato)Hairpin 48 from the bottom — looking up and counting the switchbacks stacked impossibly above you into the clouds | Road | 24.3 km | 1,808 m74 m/km | ExpertExtreme grade | Road, E-bike / touringtarmac · also gravel, mountain bike | Check on Strava ↗ |
| Passo dello Stelvio (Bormio)Bormio side. Wider road, stunning glacier panorama at top. Connects Valtellina. | Road | 21.5 km | 1,533 m71 m/km | ExpertExtreme grade | Road, E-bike / touringtarmac · also gravel, mountain bike | Check on Strava ↗ |
| Col du Galibier (Valloire)Cresting the false flat at 2556m to see the actual summit still 89m above — and the Alps spreading 200km in every direction | Road | 18.1 km | 1,245 m69 m/km | ExpertExtreme grade | Road, E-bike / touringtarmac · also gravel, mountain bike | Check on Strava ↗ |
The highlighted routes come from the previous planner catalogue. Links open third-party searches; they are not endorsements or authoritative route files.
the closest station within 60 km still sits 1638 m from the base altitude. Rather than borrow a distant or wrong-altitude station and present it as this destination's climate, nothing is shown. The planner's usual riding window (Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep) is a seasonal guide only.
© OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the ODbL 1.0. Harvested 2026-08-18 as mapped viewpoint nodes; presence on the map is not a promise of access, parking or a maintained path.
Hotels, hostels, guest houses, rentals and campsites.
Refuel160 pubs, cafés and foodResearch ride starts, stops and post-ride options.
Repair40 bike servicesShops to check for spares, servicing, hire or local advice.
Documented discovery records from Overture Maps and, where available, official NaPTAN transport data. Verify services, opening, timetables, bike carriage, availability and prices directly.