Briancon Day 3 - Ride across to Italy to climb Colle Sestriers

Day three saw significantly improved weather from yesterday with the sun out and beaming much to our delight. Todays ride was a slightly longer one with a 70km ride across the italian border with the feature of the day being the Colle di Sestriere. First up for the day was a trip along the scenic Route d'Italie with some spectacular views back down into Briancon. Without a doubt one of the most scenic sections of road we have travelled to date.

The first of three major climbs for the day was the Col de Montgenevre, a category 2 climb approximately 11kms in length reaching a total altitude of 1,860. The climb was fairly steady with an average gradient of 4.7% and never really kicked up allowing us to get into a nice rhythm. The climb proved to be a good leg loosener for the rest of the days climbing.

 

From the top of Col de Montgenevre we continued over the top and began the descent over the the other side. The descent was rather unique with several passes through tunnels and some nice big sweeping corners and spectacular views down into the valley overlooking the small town of Cesana.

The descent also included crossing the Italian border where we took the opportunity for a quick photo before continuing our way down into the valley.

From there it was onto the main feature of the day being the Colle di Sestriere, a climb which has featured in both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. Most recently, the climb was meant to be included in this years Giro d'Italia a mere month ago but had to be cancelled due to significant snow on the pass. The climb is 11.5km in length at an average of 5.9% with the summit finishing in the 2006 olympic village town of Sestriere. Again this climb was fairly steady and never really kicked up however at an altitude of 2,036m the temperature was again extremely cold at the top.

The decent back into Cesana was fast with some nice sweeping corners and not as many tight hairpins as some of the other descents we have done to date. A couple of the boys even managed to crack the top 10 overall for the strava segment. Once back in Cesana it was time for a well deserved lunch and we managed to find a nice cafe up one of the cobblestone roads in the town where we were treated with some very friendly service from the locals.

After a well earned lunch and a quick shot of coffee, the batteries were recharged and it was onto the final climb of the day up the other side of the Col de Montgenevre before descending back down into Briancon. The climb was an 8.5km climb at an average gradient of 5.7% with the start of the climb being quite steep with sections above 8% and finally easing as we approached the summit. With the final climb down it was onto the decent back into Briancon with the downhill run home much appreciated by all.

Tomorrow sees us taking on the Col du Galibier which only opened 7 days ago due to snow and should feature some nice snow walls at the summit of the climb.