January cycle ride up Alpe d’huez

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

42 consecutive month of riding up Alpe d’Huez. January is always the hardest month to get done because of the lack of daylight and general warmth. A quick stop at bend 16 this time to show the snow and Pierre Rollands name on the bend 16 sign

image

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Tour de France, Tour de France 2011 | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sale – Tour of Andalucia – with optional La Marmotte Entries

Posted on January 19, 2012 by

We are now down to our last two spaces for our Tour of Andalucia in March 2012. We are keen to have a full house for these week so have reduced the last 2 places from 399GBP per person to 299GBP per person. More details on the holiday can be found here.

Additionally this holiday comes with an optional La Marmotte 2012 entry for an additional 65GBP per person. The weeks worth of riding based in Monachil and Almunacar is ideal spring training for this or any other event or for just a week of superb riding.

 

 

Posted in Almunecar, Alumecar, Cycling Holidays Andalucia, Cycling Holidays Spain, Marmotte, Monachil, Sierra Nevada | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Tour of Andalucia Day3 and 4 Reconnaisance

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

Day 3 and 4 took us from Monachil to Almunacar and back over the Sierras de Tejeda.

We set off from Monachil fairly early to tackle the rolling climb up over the Sierras de Tejeda. The first 15km or so are through the suburbs of Granada through what once must have been small villages – such as La Zubia. Once through the villages the 30 km to the sumit of the Sierras de Tejeda followed. The quiet road to the summit rolls though typical Spanish farmland and countryside before open up to the most fantastic view and the 36km descent down to the beach in Almunacar. The descent was fantastic, twisty and fast on a newly surfaced road and is equally as rewarding as the Col du Galibier or Alpe d’Huez.

We stayed overnight in Almunacar before retracing our steps back to Monachil. The climb back was rewarding in itself and took us just under 2 hours. Once over the top we stopped for some soup in a local cafe/ restaurant. We thought the descent back to Monachil would be easy but it proved to be both undulating and very windy.

These two days of great riding can be had as part of the Tour of Andalucia Cycling Holidays .

Posted in Almunecar, Alpe d'Huez, Andalucia, Col du Galibier, Cycling Holidays Andalucia, Cycling Holidays Spain, Monachil, Sierras de Tejeda | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Day 2 Tour of Andalucia – The Pico de Veleta – Reconnaisance

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

Big ride out on day 2 combing our day 2 ride up to the Pico de Veleta with our day 3 ride to Guejar Sierra.

The morning was fresh as we started off a little later than planned for the local bike shop Sierre Nevada Bikes  to get myself a new chain for my PROMPT D211 road bike. It had been jumping through out the first day restricting me to just a few gears.

Once the chain was sorted we headed out up the steady climb to Guejar Sierra and then the mighty steep unnamed  climb up to the Pico de Veleta road. After a fantactic lunch we headed up to the ski resort of the Sierre Nevada on the Pico de Veleta road. We managed to get to 2550 metres above sea level before the road closed. There was a hive of activity up there with tacky shops renting sledges.

After a refuel in the Ski resort itself we headed back down the 35km to our base in Monachil just as the sun was setting over the mountain.

Posted in Andalucia, Cycling Holidays Andalucia, Cycling Holidays Spain, Guejar Sierra, Pico de Veleta, Pico Veleta | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Tour of Andalucia day 1 reconnaisance and training

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

Today’s ride was a 91 km ride from our base in Monachil to La Peza over the Puerto de Los Blancaros. This forms day 1 of our Tour of Andalucia holiday in March.

The temperature hit an amazing 21 degrees centigrade on the steady climb up to just under 1300 metres above sea level and as it was a public holiday here in Spain there were a far few cyclists out and about. It was an excellent days riding despite the lack of training I have done over the last couple of months.

image

image

image

Posted in Andalucia, Cycling Holidays Spain, La Peza, Monachil, Puerto de Los Blancares, Vuelta a Espana | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Snow on Alpe d’Huez

Posted on December 20, 2011 by

Its been late coming this year but we have finally had a big dump of snow just in time for Christmas. I stopped to take this this photo at bend 4 while driving up Alpe d’Huez for a spot of skiing.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Bourg d'Oisans | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nice to Alpe d’Huez

Posted on November 21, 2011 by

Nice to Alpe d’Huez.

For 2013 we are organising a new tour from Nice on the south coast of France to our base in Bourg d’Oisans at the base of Alpe d’Huez. The 7 night point to point tour will run in August after our ever popular Route des Grandes Alpes Tour. Full details and price etc will be published at a later date but as a taster you will get to ride the giants of the Col du Galibier, Col d’Izoard , Col de Vars and of course Alpe d’Huez. If you are interested in this tour please contact us here.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Col d'Izoard, Col du Galibier, Col du Lautaret, More Than 21 Bends, Nice to Alpe d'Huez, Route des Grandes Alpes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Col du Mollard

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

Its not often you get to bag a new col in November in the Alps but yesterday I completed for the first time the Col du Mollard just over the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer. Both of these climbs feature in stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France and I took the opportunity to investigate the Col du Mollard in preperation for our Etape du Tour Week in June 2012.

 

 

Posted in Col de la Croix der Fer, Col du Mollard | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Alpe d’Huez to Italy – last 2 spaces left maybe more available….

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

We now only have 2 spaces left for our Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour (August 11th-18th August 2012). If you are a group of 3 or more please contact us as we will provide additional minibus and support if there is demand.

 

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Col d'Agnel, Col du Galibier, Colle dell'Agnello, Cycling Holidays Italy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Route des Grandes Alpes

Posted on October 10, 2011 by

We are really pleased to announce our first Route des Grandes Alpes tour will take place starting on the 28th July 2012. The 10 day point to point tour with over 650 km of riding and 16 cols starts in Geneva and finishes in Nice with a rest day in Briançon.

The itinerary is as follows:

  • Arrive – Geneva airport where we will pick you up. Please arrange to be at
    the airport at about 4PM. Overnight stay in Thonon-les-Bains where you can set
    up your bikes for the 10 day tour
  • Day 1 – 80km – Thonon-les-Bains to Grand Bornand via the Col de Gets (900m)
    and the Col de la Colombière (1613m).
  • Day 2 – 92km – Grand Bornand to Bourg-Saint-Maurice via the Col des Aravis
    (1486m) ,Col des Saisies (1432m), Cormet de Roseland (1968m)
  • Day 3 – 78km – Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Lanslebourg via the Col d’Iseran
  • Day 4 – 110km – Lanslebourg  to Briançon via the Col du Télégraphe (1566m),
    Col du Galibier (2646m)
  • Day 5 Briançon rest day. Explore Briançon or ride the Col de Montgenèvre
    self supported.
  • Day 6 – 104km – Briançon to Barcelonnette via the Col d’Izoard (2360m), Col
    de Vars (2019m)
  • Day 7 – 77km – Barcelonnette to Valberg via the Col de la Cayolle (2326m)
    and Valberg (1673m)
  • Day 8 – 57km – Valberg to Saint-Martin-Vésubie via the Col de la Couillole
    (1678m), Col St Martin (1500m)
  • Day 9 – 79km – Saint-Martin-Vésubie to Menton via the Col de Turini (1604m)
    and Col de Castillon (800m)
  • Depart – Menton. After breakfast we will drop you off at Nice airport or
    station for 12PM

You can view more details and book online by visiting the Route des Grandes Alpes Tour page. In addition if you are a group of 6 or more then we can run this tour over 7 days or 10 days  anytime through the summer and early autumn. Just contact us via our Custom Holidays page.

Posted in Briançon, Col d'Izoard, Col du Galibier, Col du Telegraphe, Cycle Geneva to Nice, Route des Grandes Alpes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kraft Foods Day 6 Alpe d’Huez to Italy Tour

Posted on September 17, 2011 by

Day 6 of the Kraft Foods Alpe d’Huez to Italy Tour started in Molines en Queyras with a short decent off the Col d’Agnel to the bottom of the Col d’Izoard. After the Col d’Izoard we headed over the Col du Lautaret and then up to the mighty Col du Galibier. Once at the top we returned to Bourg d’Oisans.

 

 

 

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Bourg d'Oisans, Col d'Izoard, Col d'Agnel, Col de Agnel, Col du Galibier, Col du Lautaret, Molines en Queyras | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kraft Foods Tour Day 5 Alpe d’Huez to Italy Photos Col d’Agnel

Posted on September 16, 2011 by

11 photos of our clients on our Alpe d’Huez to Italy Tour just after they finished our highest summit finish of the Tour the Col d’Agnel.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Col d'Agnel, Col de Agnel | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Kraft Foods Day 3 Alpe d’Huez to Italy Tour

Posted on September 15, 2011 by

After our overnight stay in Briançon the Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour tackled the Col de Montgenevre into Italy and then the Col di Sestriere  before the 50km descent to our base for a couple of days in Pinerolo.

 

 

Posted in Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Briançon, Col de Montgenevre, Colle di Sestriere, More Than 21 Bends, Pinerolo | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kraft Foods Tour Day 2 Alpe d’Huez to Italy Photos

Posted on September 14, 2011 by

Photos from Day 2 of the Kraft Foods Alpe d’Huez to Italy Tour covering Alpe d’Huez, Col de Sarenne and the Col de Lautaret.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Col de Sarenne, Col du Lautaret, Cycling Holidays Italy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kraft Tour Alpe d’Huez to Italy Day 1 Col du Glandon/ Col de la Croix de Fer

Posted on September 11, 2011 by

Day 1 of our Kraft Food Alpe d’Huez to Italy Tour took us up the Col du Glandon and the Col de la Croix de Fer from our base in Bourg d’Oisans

Posted in Alpe d'Huez, Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Col de la Croix der Fer, Col du Glandon | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Group photo from the Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour

Posted on September 4, 2011 by

We took this photo before setting off on the epic Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour just outside our base in Bourg d’Oisans

Adrian, Stephen, Victoria, Simon, Gary, Rupert, Tom and myself Phil

Posted in Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Bourg d'Oisans | Tagged | Leave a comment

Rupert Hartley Photography

Posted on September 3, 2011 by

We had pro photographer Rupert Hartley staying with us and photographing for us on our Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour. The photos will be used on our new website and also in our base in Bourg d’Oisans.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Bourg d'Oisans | Tagged | Leave a comment

Day 6 Alpe d’Huez to Italy back to Bourg d’Oisans

Posted on September 3, 2011 by

Last day of our Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour took us from our overnight base in Molines en Queyras back to our base in Bourg d’Oisans via the Col d’Izoard, Col du Lautaret and finally the Col du Galibier.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Bourg d'Oisans, Col d'Izoard, Col du Galibier, Col du Lautaret, Cycling Holidays Italy, Molines en Queyras | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Day 5 Alpe d’Huez to Italy Pinerolo Col d’Agnel Molines en Queyras

Posted on September 1, 2011 by

Huge day out in the mountains today on our Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour 2011. Today we rode back into France via the Col d’Agnel – probably the toughest climb I have ever done reaching 15% in places over its 55KM climb. Its the highest point of the Tour at over 2700 metres above sea level.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Col d'Agnel, Col de Agnel, Colle dell'Agnello, Cycling Holidays Italy, Molines en Queyras, More Than 21 Bends | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Alpe d’Huez to Italy Day 3 Col de Montgenevre and Col de Sestriere

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

Day 3 of our Alpe d’Huez to Italy tour took us from our overnight stay in Briançon to Pinerolo in Italy via the Col de Montgenevre and the Colle di Sestriere. The day includes a 50km descent from the top of Sestriere to Pinerolo where Voeckler had his lucky escape in the 2011 Tour de France.

 

Day 4 is a rest day on this tour but day 5 tackles the Col d’Agnel the highest point of our tour and also that of the 2011 Tour de France.

Posted in Alpe d'Huez to Italy, Briançon, Col de Montgenevre, Colle di Sestriere, Cycling Holidays Italy, Pinerolo, Tour de France | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment