France Grand Tour 2024 - GRAND DEPART & ALPS EXPLORER

We will meet you at Florence Airport and take you to your hotel nearby. After check in, we will help assemble your bike or fit you to your rental bike and then ride a route to test the bikes and enjoy the Tuscan landscapes. A stop will be arranged at the Bartoli Museum. Back at the hotel we will meet for pre-dinner drinks to present the GTP musettes and discuss the logistics for the coming week. Finally, our first dinner together.

Straight after breakfast you are on the official race route from Florence and into the summer Tuscan countryside. Roads will be closed and the route will be coloured yellow in anticipation of the race later. Your target is the gentle climb to Valico Tre Faggi (989 m) followed by a descent into Emilia Romagna and Monte e passo delle Forche (430 m). En route the team will find a place to stop for a picnic and then watch the racers climb past. The team will then transfer you to your hotel near Bologna.

The team will transfer you to the outskirts of Bologna. Here you will start your ride on the race route into Bologna. The route takes you up into the hills in the reserve just south of Bologna. Not big climbs but a couple of steep ramps to get the heart pumping. Then back down to the plains and into the city for a double 9 km circuit to San Luca past the colonnade and up to 10%, before finishing in the centre. A trattoria for lunch before finding an optimal place to watch the pros arrive at the finish. You will be transferred to your hotel near Asti.

After breakfast, you will be transferred to Nizza Monferrato, famous for the Barbera wine produced here. The race route skirts the town and you start your journey following the undulating race route through the countryside lined with vineyards and pastures, castles and beautiful villages like Neive. Crossing through beautiful Alba and a quick lunch, you will climb Sommariva Perno (389 m) and descend to Ceresole Alba before a transfer to Turin to watch the Stage 3 finish.

After 3 days of relaxed riding, we offer you a more challenging ride in the French Alps. After an early breakfast, the team will transfer you to 5-7 km below Sestrieres (2,035 m). From here you will follow the route to Montgenevre (1,860 m) and descend 11 km to Briancon. A quick break for refreshments and then a long ascent to Col de Lautaret (2,058 m). You can stop here and enjoy a coffee and watch the pros pass by ….OR ride that extra 8.5 km and 580 m and bag Col du Galibier (2,642 m). One more option - descend from Galibier to the Romanche valley floor. The team will collect you and whisk you to your hotel.

First up, the classic Alpe d'Huez 1,840 m. Enjoy the descent to the base of Alpe d'Huez and then start the climb back up. It has an average gradient of 7.8 % but reaches 12 % at the start of the climb. Grab a photo at the finish and then a quick ride to Col de Sarenne 1,999 m. Following is a 16 km 1,100 m descent, with hairpins. Cross the Lac du Chambon dam wall and at Mizoen turn right and keep riding until turn right again towards the beautiful balcony road and then descend to Le Bourg d´Oisans. Once there, depending on how you feel, a quick transfer so you can ride up the beautiful Col du Glandon and perhaps the Col de la Croix de Fer. The team will then transfer to your beautiful last hotel in Annecy / Geneva.

The Grand Boucle Grand Depart riding in Northern Italy, Italian gastronomic dining, summer riding, Italian passion, varied landscapes, beaches and beautiful cities. The GTP team trusts that this extra long week will not fail to give you a taste and experience of riding during a Grand Tour.
We will assist you in checking out and take you to Turin Airport for your flight home or to your next destination. As always, ride safe and see you on the road again soon.