Big Ride: Alpe d'Huez - Climb and a half
Cyclist UK|September 2024 - Issue 155
No climb is as emblematic of the Tour de France as Alpe d'Huez. Ahead of its first appearance at the women's Tour, Cyclist takes a ride around it and up it. And then up it again
Emily Chappell
Big Ride: Alpe d'Huez - Climb and a half

I thought there was only one way off this mountain: via its famous 21 hairpins. But rather than turning left out of our hotel to descend past the ski lifts and building sites of Alpe d’Huez, we head upwards.

Within moments the road has narrowed to a single lane and all around us are green pastures, colourful Alpine flowers and distant mountaintops. We’re here to celebrate perhaps the most famous climb ever to feature in the Tour de France – Alpe d’Huez – but our first port of call is the Col de Sarenne, the Alpe’s lesser-known B-side.

The col itself, which we reach just 15 minutes later, is a broad green saddle a shade under 2,000m in height, overlooked by peaks that still bear traces of last winter’s snow. We have it to ourselves aside from an oblivious marmot and a few skylarks.

A tiny roadside hut is hung with hand-painted signs promising us cheese and cake, but seems uninhabited. Clément, my ride companion for the day, laughs kindly when I point out just how different this is from the bustling resort we’ve only just left.

This road has been here much longer than the main climb, but is less often used these days. During winter it’s covered in snow but it is a technical challenge in any conditions, especially today because no one has bothered to clear the drifts of gravel that collected on its hairpins during storms a week ago.

We descend mindfully southwards into the valley, and eventually Lac du Chambon comes into view, glittering in the morning sunshine.

We cross its hydroelectric dam and peer into the lake’s water, under the surface of which lie three villages and a lavender distillery that were submerged when the dam was built a century ago.

Denne historien er fra September 2024 - Issue 155-utgaven av Cyclist UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 2024 - Issue 155-utgaven av Cyclist UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA CYCLIST UKSe alt
Best of both worlds
Cyclist UK

Best of both worlds

The new Trek Madone blends the speed of the brand's quickest superbike with the lightness of its mountain-crushing Émonda to become the ultimate race bike

time-read
3 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Eddy Merckx Pévèle Carbon
Cyclist UK

Eddy Merckx Pévèle Carbon

A versatile design that shows the pros and cons of flexible build options

time-read
5 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Gravel ride: Girona Welcome to Cycling Central
Cyclist UK

Gravel ride: Girona Welcome to Cycling Central

Girona in Catalonia has become one of Europe's most popular cycling venues thanks to its weather, roads and culture. But it's still possible to leave the hordes behind by going off-tarmac

time-read
6 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Revolutions and evolutions
Cyclist UK

Revolutions and evolutions

The wheel may be a 5,000-year-old invention but designers are still finding ways to make it lighter, faster, safer and more stable.

time-read
6 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Kitzbüheler Horn
Cyclist UK

Kitzbüheler Horn

The Austrian climb that dishes out pain

time-read
5 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Cycling history in six items
Cyclist UK

Cycling history in six items

In the first of a series on cyling's historical artefacts, Cyclist visits the KOERS Museum in Belgium to discover the pick of the exhibits.

time-read
10+ mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Different times
Cyclist UK

Different times

What was the cycling world like 75 years ago? Now in his midnineties, Scottish former champion Ramsay Mackay remembers those times like they were yesterday

time-read
7 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Big Ride: Alpe d'Huez - Climb and a half
Cyclist UK

Big Ride: Alpe d'Huez - Climb and a half

No climb is as emblematic of the Tour de France as Alpe d'Huez. Ahead of its first appearance at the women's Tour, Cyclist takes a ride around it and up it. And then up it again

time-read
7 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
This Olympic Road Race might actually be worth watching
Cyclist UK

This Olympic Road Race might actually be worth watching

A punchy finale around Paris's Butte de Montmartre will bring the excitement usually missing from the Olympic Road Race, says Felix Lowe

time-read
3 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155
Beryl Burton wins her first road Worlds
Cyclist UK

Beryl Burton wins her first road Worlds

Beryl Burton claimed the first of two World Championships Road Race titles in 1960, becoming the first rider to win pursuit and road world titles in the same year

time-read
4 mins  |
September 2024 - Issue 155