Cicerone Cycling in the French Alps: Nine Classic Cycle Tours

The guide presents a personal selection of the most picturesque cycling routes through the mountains of south-east France. The nine tours – eight circuits plus the 'Grand Traverse' from Geneva to Nice – include the 'classic' high passes of the French Alps (Galibier, Iseran, Izoard, etc) as well as many lesser known areas of the pre-Alps and Southern Jura.

This second edition has been extensively revised and updated to ensure the information it contains is as accurate and up to date as possible. It also includes an additional chapter describing the Southern pre-Alps and Mont Ventoux, thereby completing the guides coverage of the Alpine massifs of southeast France. This new tour takes in some of the most spectacular roads in France, through the gorges of the Vercors and below the towering peaks of the Dévoluy, as well as cyclings greatest summit, the magnificent Mont Ventoux.

Although all the tours are in mountain areas, the scenery – from the rolling hills of the Bugey to the dramatic limestone gorges of the Chartreuse or the snowy peaks of the Ecrins – is extremely varied. Without neglecting the 'must-see' places, the tours have been designed to take you through the secret corners and forgotten backwaters of the regions described; even amongst the most awe-inspiring mountains, it is often the more discreet facets of the countryside that reveal an area's true charm.