Col du Joly is a perfect example of the many challenging, beautiful and quiet climbs that cyclotourists bypass while riding the Route des Grandes Alpes.
Author: Will
Will
Happiest while cycling uphill.
September in the Alps can be beautiful ….. and much quieter now that the tourist season is over.
An eerie fog and many cows accompanied me on this “new” Tour de France climb.
I figured I had time to sneak up Col de Portillon and the Spanish border before the long drive home.
A very scenic loop of mid-altitude cols starting from St-Lary-Soulan in the French Pyrenées.
At a minimum Le Pla d’Adet is fun to say.
If you do one climb in the French Pyrenées, make it Lac de Cap de Long.
Here is an alternate, quieter route to Col d’Aubisque from Argelès-Gazost.
Deep in the French Pyrenées, the little ski station of Piau Engaly has hosted just one Tour de France stage.
Hautacam is a ski station above Argelès-Gazost in the Pyrenées. It has appeared 4 times as a mountain top finish in the Tour de France (’94, ’96’, ’00, ’08) – see small photo below for the stage winners.