Cormet de Roselend - Classic North Route
By Will • Jul 28th, 2005 • Category: Climbs, Cycling
20.5 kms; 1,240 metres ascent; Start: Beaufort
18.8 kms; 1,000 metres ascent; Start: Bourg St-Maurice
Last Climbed: August 2005
Map of Route
Cormet de Roselend at just under 2000 metres at the summit is a beautiful and challenging climb. The north side is particularly scenic with a huge alpine lake at 1,600 metres created by a large dam (see photo). It has appeared more than a half dozen times in the Tour de France, first in 1979, when the Dutchman Henk Lubberding crossed the summit in front. It last appeared in 2005 and will be a part of the 2007 tour.
Roselend is part of the Route des Grandes Alpes, so it gets a fair amount of traffic in the summer.
The classic North route reaches the Dam via the Col de Méraillet. A more challenging and quieter route to this point is via the amazing Col de Pré - also starting in Beaufort. There is a huge billboard/map in the center of Beaufort describing several great climbs. Excellent and detailed route cards are
available from the tourist office.
43.3 kms Wednesday - This was the 1st big climb in this year’s Tour de France.
Stunning scenery, and pretty steep. 2/3 of the way up is a dam that creates a lovely blue alpine lake. 1300 metres of climbing later brought me to almost 2000 metres and great views. HIGHLIGHT (LOWLIGHT?) I was passed by a female near the top - my goodness was she petit and strong. As the French say: Chapeau!
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Will is Happiest while cycling uphill. More enthusiastic than talented, his 2008 Challenge is to (again) cycle 160,000 metres of vertical ascent.
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[…] My Fat Cyclist Jersey arrived and i was thrilled to christen it by riding up the Cormet de Roselend, a beautiful climb that was part of Stage 8 of this year’s Tour de France via the classic north route via Col du Meraillet. […]
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