The Colle del Galibier is located in the heart of the Hautes Alpes Cozie and is connected to the Col du Lautaret for a trip with many destinations.
Highest stage of the Tour de France, Colle del Galibier is the third highest French pass. It presents a challenging but very scenic road.
| Altitude (meters above sea level) | 2.642 |
| Length | 184 Km |
| connection | Valloire / Briancon |
| Number of hairpin bends | 34 |
| What to see in the surroundings | Monuments dedicated to cyclists Marco Pantani and Henri Desgrange |
| Typical dishes of the area | violet jam, tartiflette: typically winter dish of Savoyard gastronomy. |
| Winter closure | from November to mid-June |
| Road conditions and notes | good conditions at times, low difficulty hairpin bends |
Content index
Col du Galibier:
The works for the construction of the Galibier road began in 1880 and over the years the route has undergone numerous interventions and detours, up to today's definitive road. It is an alpine pass that separates the French Cottian Alps (Alps of moncenisio) give her Dauphiné Alps, joining the Maurienne valley with the Guisane valley. Note dear to cyclists: the Colle del Galibier appears to be the highest point of the Tour de France.
Itinerary:
Let's start with Valloire on the Rue des Grandes Alpes and then take the D902 and immediately face the 27 kilometers that separate us from the hill. The road is quite demanding and requires careful driving to tackle gradients of up to 12%, as it goes from the 700 meters of the village to the 2.650 meters of the Colle du Galibier.
Along the road there are panoramic points where you can stop and park safely to admire the spectacle of the Alps or the monuments dedicated to cyclists Marco Pantani e Henri Desgrange.
After the pass we go down towards the Col du Lautaret taking the D1091 and following it up to Briançon, half of ours itinerario.
Briançon it's not very far from the border, so we might as well decide to re-enter Italy da sestriere, reachable via the Montgenèvre pass.
