サン・タルバン・デ・ヴィラールの峠・トップ20

lol

The views at the top of this pass are definitely worth the detour 👍

The Col de la Croix de Fer culminates at an altitude of 2063 meters. It is the big neighbor of the Col du Glandon, another crossing point between the Maurienne and Oisans valleys. The Tour de France has used this pass 21 times. It is one of the most beautiful in France, a must-visit point for any mountain-loving cyclist!

This is the classic southern slope of the pass, which begins at La Chambre. With a vertical drop of 1,591 m, a length of 19.3 km, and an average gradient of 7.9%, it's a colossus. The initial section has many hairpin bends and is covered with trees and vegetation. The intermediate section is probably the toughest. From the Saint François Longchamp ski resort, where there is a gentler section, there are a beautiful 5 km of completely open terrain where you can see the entire final section. Descending this pass is a delight because you build up speed and it also has all kinds of curves.

Spectacular port on all its sides. The most famous slope is the one that goes up through Les Lacets de Montvernier. Once this section is over, there are about 10 km of constant climbing with very beautiful views of the Maurienne valley.

Very nice climb from St-Etienne-de-Cuines, don't forget to grab water halfway to St-Colomban-des-Villards

From the hill, if we exclude the overbuilding that has also affected this area, one can enjoy a splendid panorama of the nearby peaks and in particular of the Aiguilles d'Arves, which are in a way the symbol of the entire area. From the pass, if you continue, you descend towards St. Sorlin d'Arves and join up with the road which, starting from St. Jean de Maurienne, continues towards the pass of the Croix de Fer. I preferred to go back towards Albiez to descend directly to St Jean, avoiding the tunnels that I would have had to go through when descending from St Sorlin.

The pass cannot be adequately described in words! Hardly any traffic, small, good street, never really steep, lots of nature (from Albertville), gigantic mountain panorama the higher you go, ..... .