Col du Glandon (& Croix de Fer) – Photo Essay

I have had the good fortune to cycle Col du Glandon twice this summer.

Once to watch the Tour de France with my Swedish friend Jens, and then this past weekend on *bike-only* day with Philippe (above) and Patrice. Glandon is a challenging 20 kilometres with the last hair-pin filled stretch being about as fun a road to cycle as I know. I just love this climb.

Here are a few photos mixing the two days up a little:

Jens waving:

Me and Belgian fans – the kind Flemish lady painted my face too:

Awesome girl working the publicity caravan:

Wiggins and pals:

World Champion Mark Cavendish and some idiot runners:

Patrice on last hairpin (Jens and I watched the Tour here):

Brief detour over top to Lac de Grand’Maison (spelled correctly):

Extra 3 kilometres after Glandon is Col de la Croix de Fer (Philippe almost there):

Col de la Croix de Fer means Pass of the Iron Cross – and there is in fact an Iron Cross at the summit:

Awesome cow up high:

Awesome cow in St-Jean-de-Maurienne tourist office:

Bunny ears never gets old:

Cheers from the top:

A few more:

Two utterly fantastic days. One with thousands of people and a fun Swede, the other just with a couple of friends.

Finally: