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La Maurienne Valley in Savoie, France is one of the best base locations for cycling big and famous Tour de France climbs.

While the towns aren’t as cute or picture-perfect as one might find in Provence or Alsace – they are nice enough and are surrounded by stunning mountains. And if your main vacation priority is cycling uphill, you can’t go wrong.

In the map above the green arrows indicate the start of climbs. The thumb-tacks indicate the summits of the like coloured routes. And the little red flags indicate other interesting climbs. Click any marker for more info. Or click link at bottom of map for a larger version.

Here Are My 7 Top Cycling Climbs from La Maurienne Valley:

#1. Col du Galibier via Col du Télégraphe

One of the most famous climbs anywhere. Frequently, the highest pass in any given edition of the Tour de France.

This north side is the the tougher and more beautiful side. The biggest bottom-to-top altitude gain of any cycling climb in France.

See a detailed review here.

#2. Col de l’Iseran – south side

Iseran is the highest pass for a road bike in France (Cime de la Bonnette is not a pass).

This south side is the more interesting and remote side of this giant climb. Truly amazing ride.

For a detailed review see here.

#3. Col du Glandon

Yet another beautiful Hors Categorie climb. Glandon is on a small little road that just keeps going up. The last three kilometers are hair-pin heaven – and super steep.

At the top, one can add 2.5 kilometres to reach the slightly higher Col de la Croix de Fer from the backside. The first time I cycled this I went past a cyclist vomiting at the top. I love this climb.

For a detailed review see here.

#4. Col de la Croix de Fer via Col du Mollard

This is a lessor known way up this legendary climb. Col du Mollard is a superbe, winding climb that joins the route to Croix de Fer after bypassing several tunnels.

For a detailed review see here.

For details of the direct way up Croix de Fer see here.

#5. Col de la Madeleine

Yet another giant. This is the shorter and steeper side of Madeleine. Wide open and south-west facing, the top stretch can be an oven on hot days.
They serve great pie at the top (see pic).

For a detailed review see here.

#6. Col du Chaussy

Finally, a non Hors Categorie Climb. This lessor known climb has been advertised by a Touring company promising to reveal a secret gem to their clients.

The secret? The Lacets (hairpins) de Montvernier. This astonishing stretch at the start weaves straight up a cliff (see pic above).

The rest of the climb is enjoyable as well, and if you take a touring or mountain bike, it’s possible to follow some great high trails to Col de la Madeleine (see link below).

For a detailed review see here. Note, the descent in the review is down an alternate, quieter route from the top of Madeleine.

#7. Col du Mont Cenis

This is by far the easiest climb on the list – but is still above 2000 metres at the top, beside a large alpine lake. It’s at the Italian border, so feel free to descend and re-climb the more interesting south side.

Finally, for the Ambitious

While I haven’t put it on the map, a final idea for the strong and ambitious, is to do the giant loop that appears in La Marmotte cyclosportive.

Basically, climb Galbier, descend the other side – cycle past the base of Alpe d’Huez (or climb it), and return via the south-west side Col de la Croix de Fer.

See here for a map showing the route (but with a different start).

Happy Touring