Activities - Road Biking

Setting off to do the Col de Noyer

AlpiGap cycosportif event

Cycling in Champsaur

Have a look at our Cycling Holiday Offers

The French are crazy about road biking and the residents of Champsaur and Valgaudemar are no exception. It's not surprising when you've got some of the most famous tour de France cols on your doorstep!

Champsaur is a beautifully wide valley surrounded by mountains so riding round here can be as easy or as hard as you want.

Within easy reach of St Bonnet (the main village of Champsaur) you have access to several high mountain passes ranging from 1248m to 2361m, including the famous Col de Noyer, Col d'Izoard and Col de Manse. It's not too far to go for a day trip to Alpe D'Huez, Mont Ventoux, Lautaret or Gallibier either. And of course, we have the world's hardest long distance triathlon, the Embrunman, here with it's notorious 187 km bike route, if you feel like a challenge!

And there are plenty of roads up and around the valley that aren't quite so taxing!

Each year the french authorities choose a series of dates to close the major cycling cols to all motorised traffic so that cyclists can enjoy the climbs and descents in peace. They are closed between 9h 30 and 12h and for 2008 the dates are:

Col Closures 2008
• Col de Pommerol/Fromagère - Monday 21 July
• Col Lebraut - Tuesday 22 July
• Col du Noyer - Wednesday 23 July
• Col du Galibier - Thursday 24 July
• Col de l’Izoard - Friday 25 July

Every year, usually at the beginning of September, there is a cyclosportif here, called the AlpiGap, with routes between 70 and 155 km long and up to 3300m of ascent. If you are interested in taking part in the AlpiGap 2008, we can organise a race package for you with accommodation and transport. Please contact us for more information.

We can arrange all types of cycling holidays, from fully supported training holidays, to self guided independent tours.

We can provide vehicle support to drop you off and collect you at the end of a ride and / or be with you during it and provide refreshment stops on route.

We can arrange for a local enthusiast to show you his favourite routes or you can just go out and explore the area yourself, with the help of our route cards and maps.

For those of you who want to do some serious training we can also organise a structured training holiday with a fully qualified trainer.

If you would like to find out more or would like us to prepare quote for your cycling holiday, please fill in our request form detailing your ideas and thoughts and we'll get back to you.

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