The very interesting aspect about driving down the French
Alps from Chamonix on the backroads is that we were able to drive down the
roads that this year’s 2016 Tour de France will be racing down! Down below, you will see photos of the bright yellow
banners that were on display announcing the route through the little French
mountain villages. Can you believe that many thousands of Le Tour fans will be spread out all over these stages in the mountains!?
The riders will go in the direction opposite to ours but in
the photos you’ll see several banners proclaiming to passage of Le Tour through
the village. We made our way up one country road that led us to the Col d’Aravis
at more than 1400 meters (in excess of 4300 feet). We stopped at the top of the
Col and Mark bought a malliot (biking shirt) proclaiming the Col and it’s
altitude.
The last couple of photos are on the way down from the Col. The cyclists will be going up on the same road. Note how narrow and steep the road is in spots. This is classified as a 2nd category climb, just the second level of difficulty. There are two higher categorized climbs and the dreaded HC (hor categorie, meaning beyond category) for the worst of the worst climbs.
Our next stop: Annecy!
The last couple of photos are on the way down from the Col. The cyclists will be going up on the same road. Note how narrow and steep the road is in spots. This is classified as a 2nd category climb, just the second level of difficulty. There are two higher categorized climbs and the dreaded HC (hor categorie, meaning beyond category) for the worst of the worst climbs.
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