Tandem Bicycle Tour Across France! Overview of the Route of the Grand Alps. Watch before you go!

The Route des Grandes Alpes is one of the most storied cycling routes in the world. It ascends many of the greatest Tour de France climbs and passes through majestic terrain that is equal to or greater than anywhere on earth. Whether you’ve ridden the Route of the Grand Alps and want to relive a few memories or if you are looking for your next epic cycling adventure, this overview will help you see the end from the beginning in 3D imagery compliments of Google Earth Pro–accompanied by footage and thoughts from our own recent completion of the Route of the Grand Alps. This video covers the whole ride in a very efficient and entertaining way. The ride includes a brief discussion of the following climbs:

Col de Joux Plane, Col de Romme, Col de la Colombiere, Col des Aravis, Col des Saisies, Col du Pre, Cormet de Roselend, Col de l’Iseran, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier, Col d’Izoard, Col de Vars, Col de la Bonette, Cime de la Bonette, Col Saint-Martin, Col de Turini, Col de Castillon, Col d’Eze

hello everybody this is reed neubert from tandem travels and today i’m here to talk about the route of the grand alps this majestic pathway through the alps leads from thorne and labane in the north on the shores of la clemente or lake geneva to mint in france on the mediterranean sea depending on the roads you select and there are options the route covers over 15 major mountain passes and several minor ones ascending approximately sixty thousand feet or eighteen thousand meters and pedaling across as many as five hundred miles of tour de france history claiming pristine ski villages never ending alpine views soul-filling mountain peaks spectacular waterfalls and streams creating an opportunity for a challenge you will never forget a time of intense self-awareness and discovery the construction of the scenic drive started in 1909 and was opened in 1913. in 1937 it was totally paved following primarily the d-902 road it was then renamed route de grande arp in 1950 lisa and i wrote our tandem across the route of the grand alps in august of 2021 we don’t recommend august as the roads are at their busiest during this peak season of tourism but we survived nonetheless and loved every minute of climbing pain and beauty and descending exhilaration and payback i love maps i love trip planning to me it’s like putting together a puzzle that when finished i can get on a plane and jump into the puzzle and live it this 3d tour of the root of the grand alps is intended to provide an overview of the route the blue track is what we actually followed on our adventure and includes some alternates to the official route red segments where shown represent the official route of the grand alps when i first heard of the root of the grand alps i understood it to go from geneva to nice and the root signage definitely still suggests that since we were flying into geneva and had no reason to call it quits and minton we continued onto nice let’s take a look at the root of the grand alps getting out of any big city like geneva is always a challenge for a cyclist there’s nothing like getting out of a big city nothing beats the peaceful feeling of being released from city traffic and starting up a canyon road knowing there are few to no more navigation decisions to be made for a while at least just you and the road and all those possibilities now google maps bicycle instructions would have you ride directly to thonen on the d1005 which is not recommended because of traffic we wrote it late in the evening and it was fine but tools like strava route creation and ride with gps will guide you on different roads using their cycling heat maps i recommend using those tools to find highly cycled routes out of geneva and a quiet and safe way to thonen thone and lebane is a great place to get a good meal and a solid night sleep before embarking on the official route start the next morning you should start early on day one to make it as relaxed as possible the route to de grand alp signage is wonderful frequent timely and reassuring the ride to morzine is a climb by itself rising 562 meters remember that a meter is approximately three and a quarter feet but without much pitch to be concerned about the official route from morizine climbs over the cold to get which is a simple climb but busier than another option i learned about from will cyclingchallenge.com the cole de joubron which we took my friends at climbfinder.com have rated every climb along this route and hundreds of others for difficulty using the catechol formula the highest rated climbs are over eight hundred the cul de juan which we felt was a short but solid climb has a rating of 705 and was especially steep at the beginning after that it backs off a little i understand there are beautiful views of bunplank at the top but we were lucky enough to get socked in by a raging thunderstorm so i can’t confirm that samoan at the base is a beautiful little village but we rode to clues to stay the night out of clues you have at least two choices all the way up the col de la colombier rated at 813 in a category one climb or you can take the route followed by the 2021 tour de france by climbing the calderome a very steep climb at the beginning and end with a little softening in the middle this climb descends to join the columbiae halfway up in the repersoius and then continues to the summit of that climb spectacular views await you as you descend into the grand bornanda the next two climbs ease up a bit rated in the mid 500s most climbs still have their punchy sections though so be on the lookout the ottavis rises 879 meters over 18 kilometers with some well-placed switchbacks to ease the profile both times we’ve been there the summit has been hosting festivities of one sort or another you descend the aravis into flume where we stayed at the hotel mont blanc and enjoyed the included dinner and breakfast absolutely delicious next is the cold disasies which treats you to some delicate switchbacks as soon as you cross the river la ali there are multiple ways to get to the top if you get lost keep climbing chances are you’ll end up in the right place the top hosts a large ski station which is busy all summer long with mountain biking the descent off this aces does provide for some breathtaking views of mont blanc which i can confirm because the skies were blue and the breaks were true for this long descent into the famous cheese town of beaufort eat something quick if you’re heading forward because the giant gourmet de rosaland rated at 1011 awaits you this oars category climb is not too steep but it is a solid masher for 20 kilometers or if you’re feeling up to bagging two coals for the price of about one and three quarters you can cut this mountain into two and summit the cold dupree while you’re in the neighborhood the co dupre alone is rated at 887 and is easy that is until you really start the climb out of resches beaufort from there it’s switchback after switchback or virage after virage as they say in france and it is steep with very little respite until the summit the views looking down as you scale the climb are magnificent the cold dupree descends and crosses the barrage restraining the waters of the loch de rosaland and meets the cormeir de rosaland for a glorious ride around the lake to the summit the descent of the cormeir de rosaland is one of the smoothest flying experiences i’ve ever had on a bike it combines great pave long stretches of not too steep sections mountains and alpine meadows simply surreal the ride into borg saint maurice is long with plenty to see along the way this is another great place to stay next is the mother of all climbs if you do it all in one shot the col de la rezeron peaking at 2764 meters the highest paved pass in the alps the first step is to get to valdezsare this alone is a climb of 1160 meters over 32 kilometers and you might be tempted and i might recommend actually staying the night here due to some bicycle problems we were forced to stay the night and we were not disappointed the french office of tourism found in every town and which we used heavily on our tour helped us find a place to stay as you approach valdez air take note that there are a few long tunnels that you will definitely want a headlight and a flashing taillight on before you enter out of valdez air the climb of the cold and isron is spectacular up up up the mountain peaks are all around you in a panorama that won’t quit speechless compared with the start out of borg sant maurice it’s a relatively short climb when cut in half by valdez air at just 17 kilometers and it’s not all that steep either intimidating by reputation though and that’s enough to keep the endorphins flowing all the way to the top a mountain like many other french mountains covered with ski lifts descending the cold israel is another soul-filling event recognizing man’s true puniness within god’s great creation but yet all of this is for us and we can be grateful which i am enormous breathtaking views accompany you all the way down and down and then a little up and then a little more down seeming like forever on your way to san michel de marien my recommendation is to press on up the cold telegraph it’s a shorter 12 kilometer climb with an average gradient of 7.1 percent nothing to be scoffed at but my preference is to sleep in the mountains whenever possible and valois is just the ticket plenty of places to stay and eat and you can open your hotel room windows and sleep with the cool mountain air and the roar of a stream if you’re lucky the cold of galilee out of valois will wake up your legs and have you shedding layers quickly rated at 933 with an average gradient of 6.9 over 18 kilometers this is a tour de france regular and rightly so this is another biggie topping out at a whopping 2 642 meters you must linger at the top and take plenty of pictures and enjoy the accomplishment you earned it descending the glibier don’t forget to look up and take in the amazing glacial views these are some of the biggest of the route upon reaching la terre to the right is the road leading to albertoes that’s for another day take the left turn and another long road for bronzon again we opted to press on from reonsong rather than stay the mountains again but i’m sure breonson has plenty to offer the kodizwad is next and there are limited accommodations along this route but we found the perfect place for us and isn’t it amazing how often the place you find ends up to be just the perfect place for you in servieras at the hotel de joad including dinner and breakfast if you’re interested in a graveyard full of bones and teeth on the surface the rocky chapel above cervieres is the place for you delightful from saviatus the cold is wad is a decent challenge overall it’s rated at 866. the profile has lots of rat at eight percent or more and it’s another tall one at the top at 2 361 meters don’t miss taking a peek at napoleon’s refuge three kilometers from the top the iswa descends into estra which if you’re going on you don’t even ride through you skirt the city hugging the hillside until you are thrown right up onto a hogsback climb you see it hanging in there i am yeah it’s hot but it’s beautiful over there yeah it got pretty just a little audio with a frequent nine percent plus gradient this is the cultivars don’t despair just keep plugging along there is relief at the town of ours where you can get some sustenance and refill the bedones with water from here you’re riding through ski pists and lifts until you reach the summit with grades that are back to a more enjoyable level of four to seven percent funny though how your legs always know the difference between going up and going down the descent from the cultivars has lots of twists and turns that begin with wide vistas that ultimately close into wooded forests and ends in the town of zhaozi zhaozir is a delightful old town that speaks italian and is proud of it don’t try to use your pale vuong clay here they also have a wonderful bike shop jauser sports technician that saved our rear disc brakes and tuned them better than ever boy were we blessed to find them next is another arguable grand daddy of them all the col de la bonet and the chima de la bonet or as we affectionately call it divorce mountain it’s hard to ride all these mountains on a tandem the official route heads right out of zhao going over the cold de la cayo and the cold cuiola but we opted for the bonet the climb is rated at a whopping 1281 going for 23 kilometers at an average gradient of 6.8 percent it’s a beast but nothing you can’t do if you just keep going and that’s the whole of it several times you will crest one hanging valley plateauing to a new level and then level up again it just keeps going until you rise above the tree line and head across the top of the mountain to the pass but wait the chima de la bonet has yet to be tamed it’s a bare no guard rails looping ribbon of road ascending up another 87 meters and around the end of the mountain making it the highest stretch of paved road in the alps 14. if it’s windy take heart and be safe how can you not do it this is yet another spectacular descent full of vistas as far as the eye can see so big so wonderful what is all that out there and how can i get my arms around it and take it all in after the bonnet you might want to settle down like we did in the next available town for us that was saint etienne de tiene the perfect place everything you could ask for in a mountain ski village that’s been around for hundreds of years and wants to make you happy i recommend the cheeseburgers at le regale vu delicious with only two more significant climbs and two minor climbs left the celebration feelings begin to percolate but don’t be hasty continuing the descent from the high of the bonette down to the left turn onto the coal saint martin we reach a low of 496 meters above sea level only to climb one thousand meters at an average six point two percent gradient up and over the coast martin if you have a moment as you pass through valdez take a series of right turns at the church to loop back down and through the old town on your bicycle truly a trip back in time st martin is topped by yet another ski resort and the descent is beautiful and forested with plenty of switchbacks to keep your attention but the real item of interest is the devastation riding into saint martin vesuvi where we stayed for a few kilometers leading into the town you can see the absolute and utter devastation that a massive storm caused in october 2020 but much of saint martin vesuvi remains untouched and it’s another delightful place to stay with all the charm of the best of mountain villages now we have the last of the biggies the col de tourini this climb is 15 kilometers at an average gradient of 7.2 percent don’t miss the hanging road with its arches built up for support along the cliffside a perfect place to position the gopro for a ride by this road has a set of switchbacks that will allow you to look back at the beauty of a road that snakes its way perfectly up the mountainside we’re now in a more arid country as we approach the mediterranean sea but there are still plenty of pine trees and ski runs on the climb side of this mountain descending the tourini there are some unforgettable features first is the chapel notre dame with astonishing positioning on the hillside and a delicate footbridge crossing the road for pedestrians to make the pilgrimage and just below the chapelle are some switchbacks that remind you that you are now in monte carlo rally country this road is teeming with formula one racing history get the gopro out again from here it’s all downhill the biggies are behind us but the adventure still looms large and the sense of ultimate accomplishment has not yet been won the descent from the tourini ends in sasebo saucepal looked like a great town and the cathedral is enormous and beautiful on the inside but they literally had no hotel rooms available the night we were there so we pressed on over the miner col de castillon past olive trees and beautiful arid scenery this is a short easy climb unless your wife falls asleep on the back of the tandem then you know it’s time for more calories upon reaching the top you’re done with all the climbing of the official route descend into momentum and dip your toes in the sea that’s what we did to finish it all off there’s the cold ease over the top and behind monaco staying in france finding the route for this can be tricky again i recommend using a good route planning tool with heat maps to uncover the right way google maps struggled on this one it’s the city be careful once you reach nice you’ve done it celebrate your own way you’ve earned it you just rode the route hey everybody i hope you enjoyed the video if you did please don’t forget to like it and subscribe to my channel thanks for watching and i hope to see you out on the road on your next adventure [Music]