Col Agnel

We've been making an effort to make better use of our days off this summer, better use meaning doing some rides that have been on a 'must do' list for a while.

So on Tuesday we drove down to Guillestre, south of Briancon, to ride the Col Agnel. At 2744m it is the 3rd highest paved pass in Europe behind the Iseran and the Stelvio.

There is a fantastic bakery in Guillestre so I stocked up with supplies on the way through. Their pain aux raisins are simply the best. From Guillestre the climb is fairly gentle till the last few kilometres. It must rank as one of the most beautiful valleys I've ever ridden up and the fresh snow on the peaks and clear blue skies were an added bonus. The France/Italy border is at the summit and the views in both directions were equally impressive. The feeling of achievement soon gave way to one of intrepidation when I noticed the road plunging down the valley like a crazy Hotwheels track. 

Fortunately the road surface was immaculate and we made it down in one piece, unlike Oscar Pereiro who was air-lifted off the mountain after going over the edge in the 2008 Tour (thankfully he was ok).  The village at the bottom of the mountain, which, according to a proud sign, is one of the prettiest villages in Italy, was well worth a visit, after which we descended down to the resevoir for light refreshments before the return journey. The climb back must be the hardest one I've ever done on a road bike: the final 9kms are at mostly 10% with some steeper bits at 14%. It makes Alpe d'Huez, even at the end of the Marmotte Cyclosportive, seem easy.  And talking of marmottes, I've never seen so many and even managed to photograph one at the side of the road. Soph did the climb without stopping but I was quite happy to stop and take photos as it was too nice a day not to.

Here's the marmotte watching Soph climb and a few more pictures of a memorable day out.

 

Comments

[Creativeglo]

Wow what a fantastic ride. Stunning scenery. Though why you'd want to go and ride that when you have the Musan right near by I don't know. Speaking of which, I'm preparing excuses in anticipation ;-)

[James Pemberton, Sheffield]

We stayed near the Col Agnol a couple of years ago and cycled upto the top from where we were staying (about half way up!) it was enough for us. Beautiful valley and the road was resurfaced in 2008 just a couple of weeks before the tour came through. Couldn't have even countenanced the ride back up on the Italian side. Feel like such a lightweight.

Keep up the good work.

James & Nikki