Colle del Sestriere - Cesana Torinese

I went up to Sestriere from the Cesana side, and was surprised by its difficulty. It was certainly tougher than the montgenevre which was tackled beforehand. The view from the top looking over the valley is sensational. The town i expected to be busy because it is a prominent ski resort and it was in the year that the winter olympics would be doing most of their events there. However, it was mainly deserted.... The Giro ditalia has definitely been over the sestriere (possibly the year savoldelli won it). Fortunately i had the luxury of taking the decent all the way from sestriere to Turin. GOing the opposite way up the sestriere is a long shallow slog, (steeps in last kms) of length nearly 40km! The legendary climb of the colle di finestre is neearby and accessible if your legs are up to it!