What goes up: it’s a summit finish for the Tour de France but you can descend down the other side to Courchevel. It’s totally different to the usual Alpine experience. It’s tough but you’re free to concentrate on the climb because it’s car free and the steep bits are short. From here it’s 7.5km to the top and confounding with all the changes of pitch and with the altitude you need to measure your effort. Out of Méribel and everything changes thanks to the cycle path, narrower than a normal road. The Verdict: the road to Méribel starts with long 8% sections and good views but you’ll find the same kind of roads all over the region. The ski resorts of Méribel and Courchevel are so far below you can’t see them, instead there are long views of the high mountains in 270°. If this doesn’t take your breath away, the views at the top will. You can spot the final wall section from afar, a 20% just before the top. It’s less irregular and as you press on there’s even a descent to catch your breath. Here you can see the path as a long line ahead heading up towards the ridge. Then with about two kilometres to go you round a bend to point the other way. As you ride past ski lifts the Dent de Burgin which earlier looked so far away is now so close it looks like the path is going to reach it. It’s not the Mur de Huy all the way up, the defining characteristic is the frequent, abrupt changes of slope, no profile graphic can capture this. The secret is to use your gears a lot to level the effort out as much as possible but this assumes you’ve got with the right ratios because whatever you’d spin up the nearby Iseran or Cormet de Roselend you’ll be leg-pressing here. It’s hard to get into a rhythm, the temptation is to power up the steep parts and recover in between, only you’re 2,000m altitude now and oxygen debt comes with a penalty interest rate. The Col de la Loze is a tarmac bucking bronco. I’d have taken more photos but it was too steep to pull out a phone and didn’t want to put a foot down. There are plenty of 15% ramps, plus hairpins and sharp corners. There’s a section at 22% before it flattens out for a few metres and then rears up again and from here on the changes of pace keep on coming. It’s confounding as there’s fresh, high quality tarmac but the slope keeps changing like a mountain bike course. From here the climb turns into something unlike anything else in the Alps. The first thought was along the lines of “ this is crazy, never mind racing up, it’ll be hard work in a team car” and images of team managers pumping clutch pedals and working gear sticks. After a kilometre there’s a tight hairpin and suddenly you’re confronted with road rearing up in the woodland. You ride past snow cannons, this is a ski run during winter. Only it’s a question of scale and there’s a Lilliputian feel as the road you thought you saw turns out to be cycle path little more than three metres wide. Having glanced at photos online things looked normal with fresh tarmac and a dotted white line down the middle: just like any other road. Once you’ve crested this brief obstacle there’s a double-take as you realise you’re not on a road but cycle path reserved for cyclists and hikers. The first impression of the new road is instant: an urgent need to change down as many gears as possible as there’s a really steep ramp to clear. The Col de la Loze is brand new, aim for the Rond-Point des Pistes and look for the Loze cycle path. More scenic is the ridge of mountains high above topped by the serrated peak of the Dent de Burgin, a world away.Īs a ski resort, Méribel’s not big but it’s still a town to pedal through when you came for the great outdoors. It’s pleasant but not picture-postcard scenery, it vibes ski station access road thanks to the amount of buildings and street furniture. Tarentaise cattle, bells jangling, graze beside the road. Still the road is wide and there’s new tarmac to help you climb fast. Here the early ones warn of 8% again and again so the start is no picnic. The Feel: mountain passes all over the Alps now have markers every kilometre telling cyclists the average gradient ahead. In total it is a 21.5km climb with an average gradient of 7.8%. The final 7km are on the new Montée de la Loze cycle path. Once in the resort of Méribel follow the signs for the Rond-point des Pistes and the Altiport. Along the way, at the only roundabout, ignore the signs for Méribel-village and go right for the ski station. The D90 starts from Brides-les-Bains in the Savoie départment of France and goes to Méribel. The Route: to get to the new climb, first take the old road. It’s also a confounding climb and the world’s most sporty cycle path. The Col de la Loze is the newest paved climb in the Alps and the high point of the 2020 Tour de France.
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