Day 1, Sunday 11 July

Bonjour France

Let’s get straight into enjoying all the good things about France. The pace of life, croissants, wine, cheese, great roads and amazing scenery, etc. Add to that - a great bunch of people. We could go on and on.

We’ll meet in the bike room at 10am and help put all the bikes together. As well as making sure all those renting bikes are comfortable.

Let’s try and get on the bikes just after lunch.

About a 50km ride just to make sure things are ticking over as they should. We could go all the way to Monaco if you’re feeling up for it. Remember – it’s only day 1.

We call into Café du Cycliste. It’s perfect for us as that’s where the cool kids hang out. They offer coffee and some really expensive kit.

Tonight, we’re hosting a welcome dinner. Oh, there will also be champagne.

FFC and Friends - thank you for joining Ride Holidays. Welcome to France. Bring it on!!

/ Accommodation: Campanile Nice Airport
/ Meals Included: Welcome Dinner

Day 2, Monday 12 July

Isola 2000 - HC #1

Let it begin!! We leave our Mediterranean haven and head for the mountains. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pick that today could be lumpy as we start at the beach and finish in the mountains.

In summer, Isola (population 653) transforms from a bustling ski resort into a serene alpine getaway, offering a mix of fresh mountain air, wildflower meadows, and sweeping views of the Mercantour National Park.

You might remember Isola 2000 (Hors Cat) from the 2024 TdF. A guy by the name of Tadej Pogačar attacked, overtook the breakaway and won the stage, gaining time on his closest rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel. This stage secured the yellow jersey.

The hotel to hotel ride is 90km. That involves about 2500VM. There’s no pressure to keep up with the Joneses. (Or should I say the Banks)

It’s only day #1. Those who don’t want to ride the whole way can get a lift to the base of the climb. I’m guessing none of you will do this but it is an option….

Our hotel is a small boutique family run hotel which also doubles as a health spa. We can arrange massages in advance. (we do this via our App) Otherwise, you could simply relax in the swimming pool and sauna.

/ Accommodation: Marano Chalet
/ Meals included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 3, Tuesday 13 July

Col de la Bonette

First the good news. Today starts with 15km of downhill. Zero pedalling. Not even one revolution. (Hargy, that’s a promise)

Hmmm, what’s after the downhill? Glad you asked... None other than Col de la Bonette. It’s one of my favourites. It’s Hors category. (Hmmm... is that 2 HC in 2 days. Yip!) It’s actually the highest paved (driveable) road in Europe and sits 2860m above sea level.

And now for some more good news. Once we get to the top of Bonette, we literally roll down the other side to our hotel. Total ride mileage is only 77km. Climbing is 1900m.

My Upper Hutt maths tells me you’ve got all day to ride 77k and 40km of that is downhill.

By the way – when you get to what you think is the top of Bonette. Make sure you do the little 1km scenic extension loop. That’s what takes this road to the highest paved road in Europe. If you don’t do the loop, then it’s not on Strava and you simply haven’t ridden Europe’s highest paved road.

Let’s get back to this category thing…Originally climb categories were based on what gear an old Citroen 2CV could drive the climb in. Category 1 for first gear and so on. HC means – beyond category and no, the car couldn’t get up there. Things have become a bit more scientific since the early days.

The next 2 nights are spent in the beautiful Villa Morelia in the town of Jausiers in the heart of the Ubaye Valley. It’s also the gateway to the Mercabtour National Park. Jausiers in the winter provides fantastic skiing. In the summer, it attracts people like us.

/ Accommodation: Villa Morelia, Jausiers
/ Meals included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 4, Wednesday 14 July

Italy for coffee!!

5am yoga!! Just kidding.

Yesterday was challenging. Tomorrow isn’t easy. The goal for today is to keep things short. We’ll start early but not at 5am. It’s only 25km to the Italian boarder. Let’s go there as Italian coffee is always better.

So, 50km return for those who want to spend some time by the pool this afternoon. Our target Col (we always need a target Col) being Col de la Madeleine. Located on a high mountain pass between the Cottian Alps and the Maritime Alps.

Espresso cyclists are welcome to carry on further into Italy. There’s only one road. If you get to Rome, then you’ve gone too far. In all seriousness - for anyone feeling energetic – the target is the magnificent switchbacks which are about 7km past the French / Italian boarder. Well worth the extra distance.

Today is Bastille Day. It’s always an exciting TDF stage as the French riders are encouraged to attack. We’ll put up the big screen in the garden and watch the last couple of hours.

Jausiers is a really nice little town and there are a few choices for dinner. Fulty is in charge.

/ Accommodation: Villa Morelia, Jausiers
/ Meals Included: Breakfast (Lunch & Dinner are your own arrangements)

Day 5, Thursday 15 July

Cracker of a Day

One of the most beautiful bike rides on the planet.

Let’s break today down into 3 parts. It sounds easier that way.

Stage 1 – We ride to Vars. Not Mars. Vars. It’s only 27km away from our hotel. A very famous ski town that we know has coffee. That 27km could take us a couple of hours as it certainly isn’t Singapore flat. In the fine print – it’s a Cat 1. This traditionally is our lunch spot.

Stage 2 – if you read this really quickly it will help. It’s about a 30km climb to the top of Col d’Izoard. We climb via a gorgeous valley road that has a lot of tunnels. The likes of what you see on TV and go “WOW, I’d like to ride that”.

Stage 3 – It’s all downhill. Kind of. For about 25km. 500m from the top of d’Izoard is a fascinating building called Napoleon’s Refuge. It transpires that the man himself left a large amount of money in his will to this part of France. Mainly to thank the local people for their support. It was decided that the best way of using this money was to build shelters on isolated high mountain passes. The shelter has now been turned into a café and this is our coffee stop. I wonder what Napoleon would say now if he knew that a few skinny cyclists wandered in every day and asked, “latte please”?

Those riding door to door. On the nose is exactly 97km. In the small print 2500VM.

Our home for the next 3 nights is in the beautiful ski valley of Serre Chevalier. We choose this hotel because of its location. Turn left out of the hotel and you have Col du Galibier, Telegraphe, etc. Turn right and you have Col du Granon. Hmm. Turn left!!

/ Accommodation: Grand Hotel - Serre Chevalier
/ Meals Included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 6, Friday 16 July

Let’s go back to Italy…

Today is one of those balance days. It’s an important part of our job to manage fatigue. We need to get you safely to Annecy.

There are a few choices today… #1 Do nothing. Hang out by the pool.

#2, In past years the need for a good coffee has meant a ride into Italy. The ski town of Bardonecchia isn’t far away and it’s yet again another beautiful ride. It’s only 75 odd km return. In Italy, that equates to 3 coffees, 2 donuts and something delicious (probably a panini) for lunch.

This afternoon we suggest you catch the cable car which is pretty much located at the hotel front door. Have a coffee at the top. Go for a stroll. (Please don’t leave your passport and credit card at the top like a client did a couple of years back.)

Warning – across the road from our hotel is a bar. It’s easy to get carried away in this particular bar. Things went bad a few years back when our clients, staff stayed late into the evening. We knew things had gone astray when the bar manager delivered snake juice shots. Yes, it was a bottle of some sort of liquid with an actual snake in the bottle.

Some more H&S – nothing good comes from drinking anything with a snake in it. The end!!

/ Accommodation: Grand Hotel - Serre Chevalier
/ Meals Included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 7, Saturday 17 July

Col du Galibier

Navigation is pretty easy. There’s one road. Turn left out of the hotel. Stay on that road. Great, that’s the ride brief taken care of. It’s very gentle ride up to Col du Lautaret from the Grand. 20km at 3-4%. That’s flat.

There’s bad coffee at the top. You can chill out here for a while and re-group. (On that note – for those who need more time on the climb we will simply start you earlier. We don’t want you to feel pressure to keep up with the whippets).

It’s then a short little wee 8km (upwards) to Col du Galibier. It’s not that difficult (as it’s mostly switchbacks) until you reach the last 1km. Which is when the sh*t starts to get real. Galibier sits 2642m and is the 8th highest paved road in the Alps. You will feel the altitude for the last km.

If you are keen, why not roll down the other side of Galibier to Valloire. Keep in mind, for every meter of descending means more climbing when you turn around. You could easily clock up triple figures with this option.

After dinner, we plan on visiting the excellent local spa and thermal pools. Time to give some love back to your weary legs. NOTE – all men need Speedos or equivalent to access the pools, no baggy board shorts allowed! Yes, you won’t be allowed in.

/ Accommodation: Grand Hotel, Serre Chevalier
/ Meals included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 8, Sunday 18 July

Alpe d’Huez

All we will ask you to do is… Get up. Eat. Ride your bike. Eat. Drink. Sleep. That’s all we need you to do. We’ll take care of everything else.

In saying that, we will be watching the weather as it can get really hot in this part of the world. If that’s the case, we’ll depart early.

L’Alpe d’Huez sends shudders down the spine. It’s one of the world’s iconic climbs. Each switchback features a past TdF stage champion. (Some of which have now been deleted.)

The Alpe d’Huez was first climbed in the 1952 TdF. It rises 1,100m vertically over 14km and has 21 legendary hairpin turns. The climb can be broken up into three stages. The first part is the steepest with gradients above 10% for the first 6 hairpins until the hamlet of La Garde. The gradient then eases a little to 8% after hairpin 6, and the turns become more spread out for the following 6kms. With only 5 hairpins left, the gradient ramps up again for 1km to 11% before easing off to 9% till you reach the Alpe d’Huez village. It’s only 2km to go to the top at around 5% gradient, you can now relax a little and enjoy the fruits of all your hard work.

Our hotel is also a health spa but more importantly there’s a chef (and outside BBQ) parked up at the infinity pool. How would you like your steak? I’m not kidding. It’s that good!!

/ Accommodation: Grandes Rousses Hotel & Spa, L’Alpe d’Huez
/ Meals included: Breakfast (Lunch & Dinner are your own arrangements)

Day 9, Monday 19 July

Col de Sarenne

By day 9 we’ll be pretty good at reading the room. Talking to you. Asking “What do you want to do?”

Here are the suggestions….

Firstly. Don’t do a lot. In the last 48 hours you will have ridden Galibier, Lautaret (twice) and Alpe d’Huez. You could simply choose to sleep in. Go for a walk on the ski field. Catch up on emails. Do some washing. Book a massage.

The 2nd option is 50 / 50. Relaxing with a spot of exercise. Hop on your bike and roll down Alpe d’Huez to Bourg d’Oisans for a coffee. When you are ready, have a 2nd crack at the most famous 21 switchbacks on the planet. You’ll be done and dusted by midday which leaves plenty of time to relax next to the pool this afternoon.

And then there’s the loop ride. From our hotel at the top of d’Huez we ride in the opposite direction to where we came up d’Huez yesterday. Our route takes us to the top of Col de Sarenne. It’s beautiful. Serene even. (Sorry) The Mont Blanc views from the top are staggering. We then descend Col de Sarenne to Lac du Chambon. Here you take the balcony road back to Huez. In my opinion is the sexiest 50km on the planet however that comes with a couple of warnings. The descent down Sarenne is very technical. The 2nd red flag is that even though the distance is short – the VM is quite large. 1700m large. It’s certainly not an easy day on the bike – that’s for sure.

At some stage this afternoon everyone should pop into the bike shop Cycle Huez which is only a matter of yards from our hotel. It really is the best place to buy up large. Just mention that you are part of the pink and blue lycra army.

See you in the morning,

/ Accommodation: Grandes Rousses Hotel & Spa, L’Alpe d’Huez
/ Meals Included: Breakfast (Lunch & Dinner are your own arrangements)

Day 10, Tuesday 20 July

Glandon & Annecy

Here’s how our day looks. It’s a roll down Alpe d’Huez to start things off. What a terrific way to start the day.

It’s then 10km of flat riding as we follow the La Romanche river.

And this my friends is where the party stops….

Starting in Allemond, the climb to the Col du Glandon is a steady, scenic test that quickly immerses you in classic Alpine terrain. The ascent begins gently as you roll past the Lac du Verney before the road starts to bite, winding upward through shaded forests and small hamlets. Gradients become increasingly irregular, with stretches hovering around 7–10% and the occasional steeper ramp demanding careful pacing. As you gain elevation, the landscape opens dramatically, revealing rugged peaks and sweeping views that make the effort worthwhile. The final kilometres feel remote and wild, with narrower roads and a raw, exposed atmosphere leading to the summit, where the sense of achievement is matched by panoramic vistas and the option to continue toward the Col de la Croix de Fer.

Total mileage is only 70km but with 1700VM it’s still not puppy dog.

It’s then a short vehicle transfer to most beautiful lake on the planet. Which just happens to be surrounded by some reasonably large mountains. Our home for the next 3 nights is ideally located in Talloires, on the eastern side of Lake Annecy which is often called the cleanest lake in Europe. The town of Talloires has roots dating back to the 11th century, with a Benedictine monastery still visible.

Our hotel is perfectly positioned between the mountain range we plan to explore and the city of Annecy which is only 30 minutes away by bike path. The hotel has the most magnificent view and its very own private beach. Damn…

/ Accommodation: Beausite Talloires Lake Annecy
/ Meals Included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 11, Wednesday 21 July

Forclaz loop

We realise quite a few of you will have biked in this area before, so we’ll try and change things up slightly.

Behind our hotel is a surprisingly tough but stunning climb. Col de la Forclaz. It seems the TDF rides up here most years as it showcases Annecy’s sheer beauty. At the top there’s a great café which has amazing views and actually pretty good coffee. (for France) We propose that you regroup at the top over a latte.

There’s also the chance of jumping off the cliff. (Paragliding is not covered by your travel insurance.)

We roll back down the other side, and this is where you have a choice.

Either ride the 40km around the lake bike path back to the hotel and relax at the beach for the afternoon. Or… head east towards Thones and go a bit longer, higher. Col des Aravis would be our target as I remember fondly the fruit tart at the summit restaurant. (Yes, it’s important)

/ Accommodation: Beausite Talloires Lake Annecy
/ Meals Included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 12, Thursday 22 July

Col de la Colombiere

Col de la Colombiere is the region’s highest profile TDF climb. Well worthy of our last ride on tour.

The most direct route from our hotel is only 36.4km to the top (1700VM). Yes, it’s Hors Category. The actual climb from Le Grand Bornand is only 12km at 6%. That’s pretty much a walk in the park. Just ask Warren Barguil and Fanny Leleu who hold the KOM and QOM’s (26min 55secs and 33min).

Getting back to the day. For those who want more than 80km then we’ll have plan B, C and D extensions up our sleeve. That’s the beauty of having local guides.

On a sobering note, you will see quite a few war memorials on the ride. We’ll stop for a moment of reflection at the Nécropole Nationale des Glières. This honours the site where 25 French were killed in WW2. Their bodies were left on the banks of the stream, where the bike path which we will be riding now stands.

Tonight is a great chance to celebrate and look back at our achievements while raising a glass of champagne. It’s how we started the trip and how we intend to finish. Cheers to you.

/ Accommodation: Beausite Talloires Lake Annecy
/ Meals Included: Breakfast & Dinner (Lunch is your own arrangements)

Day 13, Friday 23 July

Safe travels home or the TDF in Paris

Our tour finishes after breakfast. For some it's time to head home – we’ll arrange a transfer to Geneve which is the closest airport.

Others will take some time in Annecy. (the idea is that family could meet you here for a holiday)

The main reason for finishing on Friday is that we could easily organise a Paris TDF extension. They’re expensive however we have access to V.I.P Champs Elysees grandstand tickets. Life is short. Why not!!

Let’s have a look at what we achieved.

• Isola 2000 – HC
• Col de la Bonette – HC
• Colle della Maddelena – 2
• Vars – 1 and d’Izoard – HC
• Col de la Forclaz – 1
• Col du Galibier – HC
• Col du Lautaret - 2
• Alpe d’Huez – HC
• Col de Sarenne - HC
• Col du Glandon - HC
• Col de la Colombiere – HC

Again, I want to reassure you that there will be shorter options each day. The list above is pretty impressive, but we are on holiday. It’s not a training camp.

FFC & Friends, thank you for being such a big part of Ride Holidays.

Safe travels

Karl and the team