Cycling the Col de la Madone | French Riviera Climb from Menton to Nice 🇫🇷
Join me for a stunning ride along the French Riviera, starting in Menton, right on the Italian border. Today’s route takes in one of cycling’s most iconic training climbs – the Col de la Madone – made famous by Lance Armstrong.
This 40+ mile route features over 4,500 ft of climbing in spectacular coastal sunshine. Starting from sea level, I ride straight up into the mountains, experiencing the unique heat and scenery of this beautiful region. Despite never being featured in the Tour de France, the Col de la Madone has a reputation among pros for its challenging gradient and scenic switchbacks. The Col d’Eze, on the other hand, has earned its place in racing history.
🚴♂️ Route highlights:
Start in Menton
Climb Col de la Madone
📍 Climbs featured:
Col de la Madone (925m)
🗺️ Total distance: ~65 km
📈 Elevation gain: ~1,400 m
🌡️ Temps hit 27°C+ – bring water!
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Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Turn Up The Volume by Alexey Anisimov
https://tunetank.com/track/5831-turn-up-the-volume/
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Let’s Funk by 99Instrumentals
https://tunetank.com/track/3141-let-s-funk/
[Music] This morning I’m in a town called Menton which is on the French border with Italy. It’s the last town in France on the French Riviera and also home to the Cold Dea Madon which is a famous climb famous because of one man really Lance Armstrong who used to use it as his training climb. It’s never actually appeared in any tours or any competitions, but it is famous because of Lance Armstrong. I’ve got a route planned that will take in the Kadone first and then drop back down and then I’m going to take a road called the Grand Cornesh towards Nice and tick off the cold dez on the way. That’s a famous climb from the Tour de France. It’s been a time trial a couple of times. So if the whole route is completed, it should be about 40 odd miles and I believe about 4 and a half thousand ft of climbing and glorious sunshine. Let’s get on it. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] I’ve never actually ridden in this area before. In fact, I’ve never been to the south of France before. Not the French Riviera. It’s pretty impressive. It’s beautiful. And what is unusual with a climb here is normally you’re in the mountains and you ride up a mountain and you’re still in the mountains. But here, you start at the beach and the minute you leave the beach, you’re climbing a mountain. It’s very weird in that sense. Also means it’s a lot hotter because you’re starting at sea level and even though you’re climbing, you’re not climbing up high enough for it to get much cooler. So, it’s still still 27.4° and I’ve got about 3k of a 15k climb left. So, I don’t think it’s going to get any cooler. But like I said, you start at 0 m sea level. Whereas, for example, climbing the Dolomites, most of them you’re probably starting at 1,400–1,500 m elevation and climbing from there. So, by the time you’ve climbed up to two and a half thousand or more meters, it’s definitely a lot colder. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]