Stage 13 of this year’s TdF travelled south from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse – a summit finish southeast of Grenoble in the Belledonne mountain range. The climb is roughly 21km long and very regular on a wide, well surfaced road. The resort was used for the 1968 winter olympics and many of the Olympic ski runs are still in use during the winter.
In contrast to this ascent, there is a more taxing route up. The Col Luitel joins the Romanche Valley with Chamrousse 1750. The road is narrow and poorly paved. You climb over 800m in 8km and the gradient only gets steeper as you climb. The Luitel brings you out about 6km from the summit of Chamrousse 1750.
For this year’s Tour de France tour, we took the guests up the Luitel to watch the stage finish. The day was superb with fantastic weather. Watching the finish on Chamrousse was much different than AdH the year before. The crowds were less and you were able to ride unhindered almost to the finish. We were stood just before Nibali’s attack. He looked very composed in comparison to the others – riding closed mouthed and seemingly putting nothing through the pedals!
Chamrousse is my favourite climb and without a doubt the best descent in the area. Come ride it with us on the Tour of the Oisans!
PROMPT CYCLE CULTURE 
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