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map THE CYCLING A CENTURY MAJOR MOUNTAIN cycling ELDORADO OF (GREAT) TALES PASSES Galibier, Izoard, Lautaret, Granon, Vars, Agnel, Noyer… For more than a century, the Tour has repeatedly Izoard, Galibier, Vars, Lautaret… all names that have The Hautes-Alpes Department is proud of its legendary returned to the Hautes-Alpes, writing some of its greatest tales. pride of place in cycling history. mountain passes. The department has around 30, For Christian Prudhomme (Tour Director), due to the beauty of its landscapes The Galibier that was crossed 60 times between 1911 some of which are among the most prestigious along and passes, the Hautes-Alpes Department is forever linked to the history and and 2019 is still the highest fi nish of the Tour at an the . Places that are conducive to Great Alpine Route magnifi cence of the Tour de France. altitude of 2,645 m and is the event’s most frequently cycling, sometimes set in history thanks to the Tour de Between 1922 and 2019, the Tour visited the Hautes-Alpes Department 82 climbed pass in the Alpine massif. France. 11 circuits and 22 climbs have been specially times making it ‘one of the Tour’s most visited’ areas. Its legendary passes designed for cyclists; these are the Shared Itineraries. As for the Izoard, the cyclists faced it 36 times from have such famous names as Izoard, Vars and Galbier. In June, July and August, some of these mountain 1922 to 2017. Thys, Coppi, Bobet, Bartali, Robic, passes are dedicated to cyclists during the Reserved In 2011, the Galibier, at an altitude of 2,645 m was the stage for the highest Bahamontès, Merckx, Thévenet and Barguil have Passes operation. Mountain biking enthusiasts are fi nish in the history of the Tour. A centenary to celebrate the fi rst crossing of shaped their legend around the hairpin bends that spoilt for choice with mountain biking sites bearing the the pass in 1911. An anniversary marked by the solitary victory of Andy Schleck lead to the crater and the moonlike landscape of the seal of the Fédération Française de Cyclisme (French and French cyclist Thomas Voeckler just managing to hold on to the yellow Casse Déserte. jersey. An episode that is captured for posterity in the Tour’s hall of fame. Cycling Federation), the Grande Traversée des Hautes- Then there is Vars, a famous stage on the Great Alpine Alpes (350 kilometres of trails between La Grave and And how could we forget Louison Bobet’s solitary ride in 1954, Gino Bartali’s Route, the Lautaret, the Granon with its endless Laragne), many Bike Parks that can be accessed using in 1948, that of Fausto Coppi in 1949 or Warren Barguil in 2017 at the Col de hairpins and setting for one of the Tour’s fi nishes in the lifts in summer and a multitude of major events. l’Izoard, Louis Ocana getting ahead in the climb to Orcières-Merlette 1850 in 1986, the Agnel pass, a symbolic passage between For a long time, mountain cycling was considered 1971 or the revolt of Chris Froome, master in the Chorges-Embrun time trial in France and Italy (crossed for the fi rst time in 2008). arduous, but it has recently undergone something of a 2013? Let’s not forget the towns, such as Briançon, Gap and Embrun that have Not forgetting Bayard, the Montgenèvre, Manse, revolution thanks to electrically assisted bikes, which become mainstays of cycling, and the famous resort fi nishes: Serre Chevalier, the Sentinelle, the Lebrault, Cabre, the Noyer… All have made the sport more accessible. Montgenèvre, Les Orres, Risoul, etc. sparkling gems at the summits of the Hautes-Alpes. MOUNTAIN BIKING ON THE GRANDE TRAVERSÉE DES HAUTES-ALPES THE THREE BEASTS Amid sweat and tears, these mountains have illustrated some of the most beautiful pages in THE IZOARD as seen by the Tour’s creator 350 km - 7 to 10 days • 17, 000 D+ the great history of the Tour de France. With In 1923, Henri Desgrange who invented the Tour exclaimed, ‘The Izoard is : lenaturographe.fr Max altitude: 2,500 m • Min altitude: 570 m the Col Bayard as a preface in 1905, the story unsettling like a long-winded, never-ending fairytale. Because it seems to France’s highest Grande Traversée From La Grave- continues to gain altitude in 2020 by returning go on forever, l’Izoard is endless. It is dreamlike and makes you feel like Graphisme Villar d’Arène to Laragne-Montéglin, the GTHA to the resort of Orcières-Merlette 1850 for you’re in charge and then, not at all, around a bend, at that precise moment th is an experience for real mountain biking with the fi fth time coupled with a 26 visit to Gap. when you’re about to heave a sigh of relief, it hits you with a climb that contrasting landscapes, from glaciers to lavender. Exceptionally, due to the pandemic, the 107th would bring a mule to its knees.’ With an incomparable variety of views and thrills, Tour de France is to take place in September. THE GALIBIER the warriors’ summit you start in the high mountains at the foot of the ‘By coming here more than a century ago, Also known as the symbolic peak, the warriors’ summit, the cathedral of ITALY glaciers, to arrive in a Provençale atmosphere the Tour de France changed dimension,’ said rocks, the climb of Calvary. There is no lack of superlatives to describe one among orchards and lavender in the Buëch Valley Christian Prudhomme with his eye on the of the most famous passes in the world. At an altitude of 2,645 m, this liaison having ridden along the trails that overlook the photo of the Serre-Ponçon lake in 2013, before between Savoie and the Hautes-Alpes stands as an insurmountable wall. Serre-Ponçon lake. Nine FFC MTB sites in one! returning to the summit of the Izoard in 2017, ESSENTIAL AND REMARKABLE SITES then to Gap and Embrun in 2019. THE LAUTARET a natural border La Meije with its eternal glaciers at the entrance The story continues… A true climatic barrier between the northern and southern Alps, the Lautaret to the Écrins massif. Briançon and Montdauphin, was crossed for the fi rst time in 1911 by Emile Georget and another 31 times Vauban sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage. up until 2019. A FEW KEY DATES The Durance and Guil rivers with their white-water activities. Serre-Ponçon, the Hautes-Alpes great 1905 First time the Tour de France came to lake. The character-fi lled villages and the lavender the Hautes-Alpes (via the Bayard Pass) of the Buëch and the Baronnies Provençales 1922 First stage fi nish in the Hautes-Alpes Regional Natural Park. The limestone rocks of the (Briançon) and fi rst crossing of the Izoard ........................... Dévoluy. Major mountain passes (Izoard, Noyer). GAP Marseille > 180 km 1947 A monument was built in honour of Lyon > 205 km Gap, the gentle capital. Henri Desgrange at the Col du Galibier BRIANÇON .......... Turin > 111 km 1983 Inauguration of a plaque in honour Paris > 727 km of Louison Bobet in the Izoard’s Casse Déserte (next to Coppi’s from 1960) 2011 Galibier centenary and victory at the top for Andy Schleck : Rémi Fabrègue, Patrick Domeyne, Jean-Luc Armand, GALLICA, Rogier Van Rijn, Fabien Thibault, Bertrand Bodin. Fabien Rijn, Van Armand, GALLICA, Rogier Jean-Luc Domeyne, Patrick Fabrègue, : Rémi www.hautes-alpes.net 2017 Victory at the top of the Izoard for Warren Barguil Crédits photos THE ‘ACCUEIL VÉLO’ (Cyclists Welcome) SEAL As cycle tourism continues to flourish, the Hautes-Alpes remains an area conducive to all types of cycling. The MOUNTAIN BIKING IN THE HAUTES-ALPES department now has a good number of establishments with the ‘Accueil Vélo’ seal: a guarantee of quality, a national brand aimed at providing cycle tourists with 2 GRANDES TRAVERSÉES a wide range of tourist cycle routes and a selection of • Les Chemins du Soleil establishments and places suitable for cycle tourism • La Grande Traversée des (accommodation, cycle hire and repair shops, tourist Hautes-Alpes o ces, tourist sites, etc.). This ensures cyclists feel welcome on the roads of the Hautes-Alpes. LEGENDARY DESCENTS AND ESSENTIAL TOURS • Tour du Queyras the French Alps! French the • Tour du Guillestrois car… On horseback. Welcome to to Welcome horseback. On car… • Tour du Champsaur On foot, by bike, by motorbike, by by motorbike, by bike, by foot, On • Tour de la Valgaude of a multifaceted destination. multifaceted a of • Tour de Serre-Ponçon discover the inhabitants and skills skills and inhabitants the discover • Galibier descent secret trails of Hautes-Alpes and and Hautes-Alpes of trails secret • Vars-Embrun descent the glaciers, adventure along the the along adventure glaciers, the • Les Orres-Embrun descent close to the dizzying summits of of summits dizzying the to close passes of cycling champions, come come champions, cycling of passes MTB PROFESSIONALS travellers, cross the legendary legendary the cross travellers, AT YOUR SERVICE Follow in the tracks of great great of tracks the in Follow • 6 MTB schools with the MCF with contrasting landforms. landforms. contrasting with seal true odyssey across wild spaces spaces wild across odyssey true • 95 French Cycling Instructors for unforgettable adventures, a a adventures, unforgettable for and MTB mountain guides Blanc, the Alps provide a terrain terrain a provide Alps the Blanc, • 10 incoming agencies From vast lavender fi elds to Mont Mont to elds fi lavender vast From 5,000 KM OF MARKED MTB TRAILS specialising in MTB holidays experience in the French Alps.