Torino to nice climbing challenge

Stages of your Tour

1. Torino

   42 km - 290m climb

   After the bike fit with our guides, we will take a short welcome ride to make sure you are comfortable in the saddle. The coffee stop is special: the village of Venaria Reale is the home of the Reggia or hunting lodge of the House of Savoy, although to call the Reggia a hunting lodge is like calling the Palace of Versailles a holiday chalet. The grounds of contain a 3,000 hectares (12 square mile) nature park. In any case, the same architects who designed Versailles worked on the Reggia.

   
   Hotel Bella Rosina | Torino

2. torino-susa

   88 km - 1460m Climb

   As Italian unification gained ground in the 1850s, France promised Italy military support against Austria in exchange for Nice and the Duchy of Savoy, although the Savoy city of Turin and the Susa valley to the northwest remained in Italy. Our itinerary takes us across this fascinating, so-nearly-French border region! We cross the magnificent Colle del Lys (14 kilometers at 6.5%), included in the Giro d’Italia as recently as 2019, then sleep at enchanting Susa, rich in Roman and medieval monuments and a traveller’s crossroads for thousands of years.

   
   Hotel Napoleon | Susa

3. susa-briancon

   79km 2860m

   The extravagant Colle delle Finestre writhes like a bowl of spaghetti dropped on a mountainside. A gravel classic with 7 kilometers of dirt track, it starts far enough from Susa to let us warm up before the exertions begin. The descent through meadows and woodland is just as extravagant, and leads us via Sestriere and Mont Cenis to the French border and citadel town of Briançon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to the fortifications built in the seventeenth-century by the Marquis de Vauban, Louis XIV’s favourite military engineer.

    
   Hotel le Monetier | Le Monetier

4. briancon-Sampeyre

   115 km - 3510m Climb

   A stage of three towering climbs with a Giro d’Italia and Tour de France pedigree. The great Fausto Coppi was first across the Col d'Izoard in both races back in 1949. At the brow of the next great climb, the Colle dell'Agnello, which the Giro and the Tour have crossed twice each, we go back into Italy. Then, after descending to the village of Sampeyre, we turn left, drop down to the river, then embark on the Colle di Sampeyre to the refuge for well-deserved refreshment after a mammoth day!

    

   Rifugio Meira Garneri | Colle di Sampeyre

5. sampeyre-cuneo

   90 km - 2330m climb

   The long, demanding Colle della Fauniera, whose gradients rarely drop below 10%, has only been climbed once at the Giro d'Italia, and today we follow much of that classic, 1999 stage when Marco Pantani darted away to finish second behind Paolo Savoldelli and take the Maglia Rosa. Savoldelli built much of his stage success on the Fauniera descent, considered one of the most technical in the Alps. Like them, we end our ride at beautiful Borgo San Dalmazzo, then transfer to magical Cuneo, built by the Savoys as an anti-French military citadel.
   
   Hotel Le Lanterne | Cuneo

6. cuneo-Saint Martin Vésubie

   113 km - 3050m Climb

   Our finish town, Saint-Martin-Vésubie, was part of the historic County of Nice which Italy ceded to France in 1860. Until then, it had an Italian name: San Martino Lantosca. Standing between Cuneo and Saint-Martin-Vésubie is another Alpine border pass, the Colle della Lombarda. The road connection, completed in 1964, provided access to a new ski station, Isola 2000, where Tony Rominger won a stage of the Tour in 1993. On the Colle della Lombarda, Vicenzo Nibali secured victory in the 2016 Giro d'Italia, but that was coming the opposite way.
   
   Pure Montagne Resort & Spa | Saint-Martin-Vésubie

7. Saint Martin Vésubie-nice

   64 km - 590m climb

   With Paris preoccupied by the Olympic Games, where else could the 2024 Tour de France finish but Nice? We will follow suit! After all, with blue seas and fine sands beside a vast, gently curving bay, Nice is bounded by the mountains of the southern Alps, which provide the breathtaking landscapes for today’s ride. The magnificent Promenade des Anglais, now lined with palatial hotels that recall the Belle Époque, predates the annexation of Nice by France in 1860, and has been the final  destination of the Paris-Nice stage race since 1933.

   
   Les Terraces d'Eze | Nice

8. depart day

   NO RIDE TODAY

   Our mountain odyssey is complete. After so many magnificent views, I’m not sure we could take in another mountain! Time to swap numbers and say our farewells, and make a rendezvous for our next amazing adventure.
   
   

The perfect cycling holiday requires pedalling on the perfect bike. So should you not wish to bring your own bike with you we have a number of beautiful bikes that you can hire at very reasonable prices. If you are not sure what is the perfect bike for you then fire as a mail and we will be delighted give you some expert advice. You can find more information about our bikes below. And yes you can buy our bikes if you fall in love with them!