Cycling in the French Alps: The 10 Best Climbs and Routes

The French Alps are known for their Tour de France climbs: Alpe d'Huez, the Galibier, the Madeleine. The same mountains hold 45 km lake-path days from Geneva to Annecy and a one-hotel week above Lake Geneva, so the range suits more riders than its climbs suggest.

This guide puts eleven famous climbs in one table, then covers our four self-guided tours, from 235 to 535 km, and six climbs worth the trip. For the rest of the country, see our guide to cycling in France.

Why Go Cycling in the French Alps

The range has three tiers. River and lake paths link Geneva, Lac du Bourget and Annecy at 270 to 890 m of climbing a day. The Aravis and Chablais cols top out between 1,400 and 1,700 m, and the giants, from the Glandon to the Galibier, all climb past 1,900 m.

The racing history is painted on the road. Each of the 21 bends on Alpe d'Huez carries stage winners' names, and the Tour finished there on 24 and 25 July 2026. Most major cols post the distance and gradient at every kilometre.

The season is short. The high passes open between early May and early June and usually close at the end of October, so the riding months are May to October.

What You Need to Know at a Glance

• Four tours: two Annecy col weeks (383 and 535 km), a Morzine week (312 km) and the Three Lakes (235 km)

• Highest point on our tours: the Col de la Croix de Fer, 2,067 m

• Season: May to October on the cols, April to October on the Three Lakes

• Gateways: Geneva for Annecy and Morzine, Grenoble for the Oisans

• Bikes: road or e-road bike on the cols, gravel bike or e-bike on the lakes

• Gearing: a 34-tooth small chainring with a 32 or 34-tooth sprocket

French Alps Cycling Routes and Climbs

The table gives the main ascent of each famous climb, with figures from the Oisans tourist office, the Route des Grandes Alpes and the 2026 Tour where they publish them, and Wikipedia otherwise.

Published lengths for Alpe d'Huez range from 13.8 to 14.5 km; the figures above are the Oisans tourist office's.

Ten rides define cycling in the French Alps. The first four are our self-guided tours, numbered for navigation and not ranked, from the 4,100 m Chablais day to the lake paths. The other six are the classic climbs, and two of our four tours ride Alpe d'Huez.

1. French Alps Cycling Tour: Alpe d'Huez and the Col de Sarenne

• Distance: 383 km over 5 riding days, 62 to 92 km a day

• Duration: 7 days, 6 nights

• Route: Annecy, La Clusaz, La Chambre, Les Deux Alpes, Grenoble

• Surface: paved mountain roads

• Difficulty: 5/5, 10,473 m of climbing

• Best for: a first week of Tour de France cols

The week starts gently by Alpine standards. Day 2 rides along Lake Annecy and climbs the Col du Marais and the Croix Fry to La Clusaz, 62 km and 1,632 m. Day 3 is the Aravis loop through Megève and up the Colombière, 92 km and 2,329 m, the hardest day of the week.

Day 4 climbs l'Arpettaz and the harder side of the Aravis, 87 km and 2,059 m, and the included shuttle then moves you to La Chambre. Day 5 is the Glandon, 21 km at 6.9%, with the Croix de Fer beyond it and a cable car option for the last climb to Les Deux Alpes.

Day 6 is the day most riders book for. From Les Deux Alpes the loop drops to the valley, climbs the 21 bends of Alpe d'Huez and comes back over the Col de Sarenne, a quieter road behind the resort: 67 km and 2,270 m.

Les Deux Alpes, at 1,650 m, is the base for two nights, so the Alpe d'Huez day starts and ends at the same hotel. A shuttle to Grenoble ends the week on day 7. The Classic Alps tour rides the same mountains with one more col.

2. Classic Alps Climbing Tour: Annecy to Alpe d'Huez Over the Madeleine

• Distance: 535 km over 6 riding days, 62 to 120 km a day

• Duration: 8 days, 7 nights

• Route: Annecy, La Clusaz, La Chambre, Les Deux Alpes, Grenoble

• Surface: paved mountain roads

• Difficulty: 5/5, 14,326 m of climbing

• Best for: riders who want the Madeleine as well as Alpe d'Huez

Riders choosing between this tour and the 7-day week should look at day 4. The Classic Alps tour shares the Annecy start, the La Clusaz days and the Alpe d'Huez finish, and it adds the Col de la Madeleine between them.

That day rides from La Clusaz over the Madeleine to La Chambre, 111 km and 2,196 m. The pass links the Tarentaise with the Maurienne, has been crossed by the Tour 28 times since 1969, and stays closed from November to early June.

The extra night adds a sixth riding day and about 150 km, for 535 km and 14,326 m in all. Day 7 is Alpe d'Huez with the Sarenne as an option, 67 km and 2,270 m.

This tour offers only road and e-road bikes, and the week ends with a shuttle to Grenoble. For one base all week instead of five, the Morzine tour is the alternative.

3. Tour de France Cycling Tour: Morzine and the Chablais Cols

• Distance: 312 km over 4 riding days, 30 to 152 km a day

• Duration: 7 days, 6 nights, all in Morzine

• Route: loops over the Ramaz, the Joux Plane and the Portes du Soleil

• Surface: paved mountain roads

• Difficulty: 5/5, 8,454 m of climbing

• Best for: one hotel all week and a full Tour mountain-stage day

Morzine sits in the Chablais, between Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, and this week never changes hotel. Day 2 is a 30 km warm-up to Avoriaz and back past Lac de Montriond, with 1,006 m. Day 3 crosses the Jambaz and the Col de la Ramaz, ramps up to 12%: 79 km and 1,914 m.

Day 4 takes the Col de Joux Plane from Samoëns, 11.7 km at 8.5%, an hors catégorie climb: 51 km and 1,434 m in all. Day 5 is a rest day at the hotel, with a pool and sauna, before the hardest single day on any of our Alps tours.

Day 6 links the Col du Feu, the Col de Cou, the Saxel, the Jambaz, the Ramaz and the Joux Plane in one ride of 152 km and 4,100 m.

Every ride starts and ends in Morzine, so nothing is packed until departure on day 7. Riders who want lakes rather than cols should look at the next tour, which never climbs more than 890 m in a day.

4. The Three Lakes Bike Tour: Geneva to Annecy on River Paths

• Distance: 235 km over 4 riding days, 45 to 65 km a day

• Duration: 6 days, 5 nights

• Route: Geneva, Seyssel, Aix-les-Bains, Sainte-Hélène-sur-Isère, Annecy

• Surface: river paths along the Rhône and the Isère, quiet roads between

• Difficulty: 2,360 m over 4 days, 270 to 890 m a day

• Best for: lakes and old towns rather than cols, by gravel bike or e-bike

This is the week for the Alps without the cols. It follows the Rhône out of Geneva past Satigny and Chancy, the westernmost point of Switzerland, to Seyssel: 65 km and 680 m. Day 3 is the shortest day but the hilliest, 45 km and 890 m, between the Bauges and the Mont de la Charvaz.

Aix-les-Bains, with thermal baths since Roman times, sits on Lac du Bourget. Day 4 runs through Chambéry, the capital of Savoie, to Sainte-Hélène-sur-Isère, 65 km and 520 m. The last day is the easiest: 60 km and 270 m through Albertville, host of the 1992 Winter Olympics, to Lake Annecy.

No day climbs more than 890 m, which makes this the gentlest way through the French Alps on our list.

Day 6 is free in Annecy for the canals, the 16th-century cathedral and the 12th-century Palais de l'Isle on the Thiou. The six climbs that follow are not on this tour; four of them are on the col weeks above.

5. Alpe d'Huez and Its 21 Bends

• Distance: 14 km from Le Bourg-d'Oisans

• Climb: 1,120 m at 7.9%, maximum 14%

• Summit: 1,860 m at the resort

• Our tours: French Alps Cycling Tour and Classic Alps Climbing Tour

Fausto Coppi won the first Tour finish here in 1952, the race's first summit finish, and it has been a regular finish since 1976. The 21 bends count down from the bottom, and about 1,000 riders climb the road on an average summer day.

The hardest part comes first. From the foot the road climbs to bend 21 at 806 m and on to bend 17 at 965 m, then eases through the hamlet of La Garde at bend 16. Bend 1 is at 1,713 m, and a short tunnel leads into the resort.

Most amateur riders take one to two hours. Tadej Pogačar set the fastest recorded time on 24 July 2026, 35 minutes 26 seconds, beating Pantani's 1997 record. The Col de Sarenne is the quiet way off the top, on day 6 of the French Alps tour.

6. Col du Galibier via the Col du Télégraphe

• Distance: 18.2 km from Valloire, 34.8 km from Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne

• Climb: 1,239 m at 7% from Valloire

• Summit: 2,642 m

• Open: from the first Friday of June, 5 June in 2026

Riders on the classic route start at Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne. The Télégraphe climbs 11.9 km at 7.1% to 1,566 m, then drops 4.7 km to Valloire, where the Galibier proper begins. With both, the day gains 2,120 m, the longest climb here after the Iseran.

From Valloire the road stays steady to Plan Lachat. The last 7.8 km average 8.5%, and the final kilometre above the tunnel climbs at 9.5%. Cyclists may not use the summit tunnel, so the road goes over the top.

There is no café at the summit and no water after Valloire, so fill two bottles in the village. At 11 km/h the Valloire side takes about 1 hour 36, by the Route des Grandes Alpes timings. None of our tours climb it.

7. Col de la Madeleine

• Distance: 19 km from La Chambre, 24.5 km from Feissons-sur-Isère

• Climb: 1,522 m at 8% from La Chambre, maximum 13.5%

• Summit: 1,993 m, signed 2,000 m by the Tour since 2012

• Our tour: day 4 of the Classic Alps Climbing Tour

Linking La Chambre in the Maurienne with La Léchère in the Tarentaise, the Madeleine has two very different sides. From La Chambre it climbs 19 km at 8%, and the north side is longer but gentler: 24.5 km at 6.3% from Feissons-sur-Isère.

It is closed from November to early June. The Classic Alps tour crosses it on the 111 km day from La Clusaz and comes down to La Chambre, at the foot of the Glandon.

8. Col du Glandon and Col de la Croix de Fer

• Distance: 21.3 km from La Chambre to the Glandon

• Climb: 1,472 m at 6.9%

• Summits: 1,924 m (Glandon) and 2,067 m (Croix de Fer)

• Our tours: French Alps Cycling Tour and Classic Alps Climbing Tour

Two passes share one road. From La Chambre the Glandon climbs steadily at first, then saves its steepest ramps for the end: the last 2 km exceed 10%. The Croix de Fer is 2.5 km beyond the Glandon summit, 143 m higher.

The Glandon road opened in 1898 and was linked to the Croix de Fer in 1912. It is normally closed from early November to mid May. On the French Alps tour this is day 5, 75 km and 2,183 m.

9. The Aravis Cols: Colombière, Aravis and Croix Fry

• Distances: Colombière 16.3 km, Aravis 11.7 km, Croix Fry 12.8 km

• Summits: 1,613 m, 1,487 m and 1,467 m

• Base: Annecy or La Clusaz

• Our tours: the first days of both Annecy tours

Close to Annecy and all under 1,700 m, these cols are the best warm-up for the 2,000 m passes. The Colombière, a Tour climb since 1960, gains 1,108 m at 6.8% from Scionzier; from Le Grand-Bornand it is 11.7 km at 5.9%.

The Aravis, the lowest pass in its range, climbs 11.7 km at 4.9% from Flumet. The Croix Fry rises 12.8 km at 6.6% from Thônes. Both our Annecy tours ride all three from La Clusaz.

10. Col d'Izoard and the Route des Grandes Alpes

• Distance: 19 km from Briançon, 15.9 km from the south

• Climb: 1,105 m at 5.8% from Briançon

• Summit: 2,360 m

• Open: early June to October

For the southern Alps, the Izoard is the climb to ride. The Tour crossed it 34 times before Warren Barguil won its first summit finish in 2017. Near the top of the south side, the road crosses the Casse Déserte, bare scree with pinnacles of weathered rock.

The Izoard is one of the passes on the Route des Grandes Alpes, 720 km from Thonon-les-Bains to Nice. It also crosses the Iseran, at 2,764 m the highest paved pass in the Alps. Cicerone puts it at 7 to 10 days for fit riders.

None of our tours ride the Izoard. Mont Ventoux, 1,910 m and often paired with an Alps trip, is in our Provence cycling guide.

Where to Stay: The Best Bases for Cycling in the French Alps

Choose the base by the climbs. Le Bourg-d'Oisans sits at the foot of Alpe d'Huez, with the Sarenne, the Glandon and the Croix de Fer within reach. Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, on the TGV line, serves the Madeleine, the Glandon and the Télégraphe.

Annecy and La Clusaz put the Aravis cols on the doorstep, Morzine the Joux Plane and the Ramaz, Briançon the Izoard. A valley base saves a climb home each evening; a resort such as Les Deux Alpes, at 1,650 m, does not.

Ask for secure, covered bike storage. The French Accueil Vélo label guarantees it, with a repair kit and pump, within 5 km of a signed route. Our tours use three-star hotels with breakfast, and luggage moves for you on every tour that changes hotel.

When to Ride the Alpine Cols

Snow clearance sets the season: the lower passes open from May, and the highest need until June.

Late Spring (May – June)

The Croix de Fer usually opens in early May and the Glandon in mid-May. The Galibier tunnel opens on the last Friday of May and the summit road on the first Friday of June.

In 2026 those dates were 29 May and 5 June, and the Sarenne opened in early June. For cols earlier in spring, try Corsica.

Summer (July – August)

Every pass is open and the roads are at their busiest. The Tour comes through in July and closes roads on race days, and afternoon thunderstorms make an early start the safe plan.

The 2,120 m climb from Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne to the Galibier means about 14°C cooler at the top, at the usual 6.5°C per 1,000 m.

Autumn (September – October)

September brings quieter roads, and the high passes usually stay open until the end of October. All four of our tours run until October.

The first snow can close the Galibier early, so check the passes before a late trip on Savoie's road service, under état des cols.

Winter (November – April)

The Madeleine closes from November, the Glandon from early November and the Izoard from October. Our Alps tours do not run.

The Col du Lautaret road between Briançon and the Oisans stays open all year, weather permitting.

How to Get to the French Alps

Geneva serves the northern Alps, and trains reach most valley towns.

By Air: Geneva, Lyon and Grenoble

Geneva is the airport for Annecy, Morzine and the Three Lakes start. Annecy is about 45 km away, and direct buses take around 50 minutes. Lyon airport has its own TGV station, which suits the Maurienne and the Oisans.

Our two Annecy tours finish with a shuttle to Grenoble, and trains and buses run from Grenoble to Lyon. Tell the transfer company in advance about a bike box.

By Train: TGV and TER With a Bike

Annecy, Aix-les-Bains, Chambéry, Albertville and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne have stations, and Geneva airport has its own. Le Bourg-d'Oisans has none; the bus from Grenoble covers the 50 km.

On regional TER trains in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, a €1 bike reservation is compulsory from 1 May to 27 September 2026, as the ViaRhôna route announced. The TGV rules are in our France guide.

How Much It Costs

Each tour is priced per person and includes three-star hotels with breakfast, the route booklet, the GPS app, support on the road and luggage transfers. Both Annecy tours end with a shuttle to Grenoble, and the 7-day tour adds the day 4 shuttle to La Chambre.

Bike hire, an e-road bike and a single room are quoted as extras, and tourist tax is paid locally. The riding itself costs nothing: the cols are public roads, the lake and river paths are free, and the summer TER bike booking costs €1.

What to Pack

Gearing comes first. A compact chainset with a 32 or 34-tooth largest sprocket keeps the 8% sections of Alpe d'Huez and the Madeleine at a steady cadence. Fit new brake pads before you travel, because the long descents wear them fast.

Pack for the descent, not the climb. A gilet, arm and leg warmers, full-finger gloves and a windproof jacket go in the pocket above 2,000 m. Carry two bottles; on the Galibier's north side there is no water after Valloire.

French law requires a bell, front and rear lights at night, and white, red and side reflectors, as listed by Service Public. Lights also help in the tunnels, such as the short one near the top of Alpe d'Huez.

Ready to Ride the French Alps?

All four tours are self-guided, with hotels booked and support while you ride. Send your dates and how much climbing you want through our inquiry form, and the team will match you to the Alpe d'Huez weeks, the Morzine week or the Three Lakes. For a first trip without mountains, see Burgundy's vineyard routes.