cycling Col de l'Iseran - Bourg Saint Maurice

Ive just returned from the Aps where I was watching Le Tour, but wanted to tick off a famous Col whilst I was in the vicinity. I started out the climb from a little village called La Thuile Savoie down the valley near Bourg St Maurice and have to say the consistently steepest gradients appeared to be on the climb up to Tignes, with the GPS showing 8 and 9% stretches fairly regularly. Once through the tunnels approaching Val dIsere (take lights!) there is a slight downhill stretch before passing through Val, then on the gradual grind up to the dramatic head of the valley where the road doubles back and up on its inexorable climb up into the clouds. The climb itself from this point isnt too steep, with a reasonably consistent gradient of between 6 and 8%. But beware the altitude, youre starting at 1850m at Val, but climbing up to nearly 2800m. Also, on the day I rode the weather dramatically changed near the summit with strong headwinds, thunder, lightning and sleet. Consequently I had to stop my descent and re-climb the top 2k to take shelter, very cold and wet. Thankfully there is a good (albeit pricey!)café at the summit. Its a dramatic Col with the wonderful payback of amazing views (and speed) on the descent!

My personal climb rating: 4 stars

It was in 2003. I was in Val dIsere to see the 4x4 show. Having been a fan of the tour de france for about 20 years, I took my bike, as it would be an opportunity to have a go at an Alp. Little did I know at the time of its significance, in that it is one of the less often cols included in the Tour. I hadnt ridden much for several years so wasnt ideally prepared for this monster. It was of course the hardest thing Ive ever done. 17 kilometres uphill without respite and on my old bike with a low gear of 42/24! The length and gradient werent the only challenge. There is the sneaky problem of altitude! For someone who has never been more than a few hundred feet above sea level apart from the extremely rare hike to three or four thousand feet, this was not something Id ever considered to be an issue. I was wondering why I was so short of breath. I had to stop a few times to have a breather for a moment or two but was determined to reach the top. At each bend, I was expecting to see the summit only to be faced with another stretch of tarmac leading to another horizon. The kilometre posts by the roadside were a frequent reminder of the struggle to come. It started at 17km but they seemed to get further and further apart as I huffed and puffed my way up the ascent. There were more and more pockets of snow embedded into the undulations, and this was the height of summer. I stopped to take a picture of a Marmot which I surprised (though it surprised me more!). Eventually the top of the Col. What a feeling of satisfaction, nay, triumph! Being alone all I could do was to take a photo of my steed, my 531c tubed Raleigh,along with my 2L water bottle, leaning against the famous sign. The descent was a lot quicker. However I was overtaken several times by guys in the proper attire who had bags more confidence than me on those hairpin bends. It was cold too rushing down. It was only much later that I realised the nature of this col in respect of its altitude etc. The Galibier looks like more of a beast but Ive conquered the biggest of them all, albeit at a shameful pace. This year, the Tour went over it again. Fair play to them, they rode up it at ease then the Telegraphe and the Galibier! All in a days work. Ill not give up the day-job! Yet

A group of us cycled over the beautiful Col de lIseran in August 1959 - but got trapped by a snowstorm in the afternoon at the top & had to stay in the rest house there. The early morning descent to the Arc valley on the south side was quite difficult on the icy roads. We followed that event with tackling the Galibier!

I want to pass col de lIseran and col du Galibier by car, on 26/05/2007.Please, tell me if this is possible.

This is one of the most beautiful cols in the Alps. Its a climb over more then 40 Km. We went up with 20 kg luggage and it was good to do. We slept in Val disere in and very well organised camping site. The last 15 km of the climb arent diffucult but because of the height even very hard