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From the dizzying heights of ‘The Giant of Provence’, the breathtaking views of the Gorges du Verdon and the perfect roads of the Parc Naturel Régional du Verdon, famous for its lavender fields and truffles and topped off with a dip in the Mediterranean, this is a tour that really showcases the natural and cultural beauty of this region of France.
With options for 3 or 4 days of riding this route is perfect for a mix of abilities. The 3 day ride is a tough one and with daily averages of 113kms and 2105m of height gain it’s a real challenge but thoroughly rewarding. The 4 day ride allows for a slightly more relaxed pace and more time to take in the beautiful surroundings, ancient ‘perched’ villages, fortified towns and some truly delightful coffee and restaurant stops.
Our route takes us through the beautiful region of Provence, known for its vineyards, lavender fields and olive groves. Starting in the department of Vaucluse and traveling through the departments of the Alpes de Haute Provence andVar, before we finish in the Alpes Maritimes for a celebratory drink on the beach and a dip in the sea in Antibes. On the way we take in several of Frances regional natural Parks and the regions very best natural attractions, Mont Ventoux and the Gorges du Verdon. Provence really is a cyclist’s heaven and this route takes in the very best of everything the area has to offer from gruelling climbs, Europe’s deepest gorges to crystal blue lakes, perfect tarmac, great wine and fantastic culinary delights.
| Dates | Prices | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Contact us for dates and availability | £1,745 | Price is based on two people sharing. Single room supplements apply |
The itinerary below is based on the 4 day tour. If you would prefer the 3 day, more intensive tour then Day 1 and Day 2 are combined into a single day of riding. Please enquire for more information.
Arrive at Marseille airport and take a short hour and a half transfer to Mazan
We will run you the short distance between Antibes and Nice for your flight home.
If you feel that taking on Mont Ventoux is maybe a little more gruelling than you care to undertake to could instead ride the stunning cliff hugging road of the Gorge de la Nesque. Circumnavigate ‘the Giant” on this beautiful road that climbs very steadily to its hill top viewing point and enjoy the full beauty of this magnificent area always overlooked and dominated by the monster that is Mont Ventoux. Please enquire for more information.
All accommodation has been arranged for the dates highlighted in the tour. If you wish for accommodation before or after the dates, let us know and we can try to help you. We have chosen the hotels for their comfort and location to make your trip as straightforward as possible.
The support vehicle will always make itself available to provide you with your refreshments. If you need a water refill on a climb, we will stop in a convenient place to help you out. We also provide picnic lunches on all of our rides as well as snacks to help you on your way.
We provide all the evening meals along with wine and soft drinks either at the hotel or out at carefully selected restaurants . Our tours aren’t just about great cycling they’re also about great food.
We will pick you up and drop you off at the required airports. If it’s a shared tour we will ask all the clients to arrive at a certain time to enable us to collect everyone and avoid people waiting for too long at airports.
We will give you a welcome bag at the start of each tour. This can be used as your kit bag to keep all the extras in in the support van. It will contain maps and ride profiles, Tailwind energy and recovery products to help you on your way and a Velovation jersey made by Bodhi. This Jersey can be customised to you or your tour just ask us about it when booking.
The support driver isn’t just driving and feeding you the whole time, he will also be taking photos of you the whole time which will be carefully edited and shared with you after the tour is finished so you can keep looking back at the amazing time you had. Have a look through some of our photos on Instagram and follow us.
We understand how much you love your bike and we will do everything we can to help keep them safe. Each hotel we stay at has good quality bike storage and we supply additional chains and padlocks to ensure excellent security.
Every day we will provide each rider with a map and profile of the days route, along with any other relevant and useful information.
As well as having maps, a support rider and support van in close proximity we will also provide you with the routes so you can load them onto you navigation device. If you don’t have a navigation device we can rent you one.
We carry a comprehensive tool kit in the back of the support vehicle along with a number of basic replacement parts. Each member of our team is capable of helping with bike maintenance and basic repairs. We do advise however that you know how to disassemble and assemble your own bike and have the tools to do so. Please bring spare inner tubes and a puncture repair kit.
Riding in the Alps is tough and we create our weekend tours to ensure maximum levels of achievement which comes hand in hand with maximum physical exertion. For this reason we recommend a decent level of fitness and motivation. We will happily create routes for any level of fitness and experience so if you have any concerns please feel free to contact us, together we can come up with the best possible options to suit your needs.
For these weekend tours we suggest that you bring your own bike. While we can advise you on hiring a bike here in France it is generally better that you have your own. You need to be comfortable on your bike for long periods of time.
We expect you to wear a helmet at all times while riding.
Please bring appropriate clothing, the climbs can be hot but the long fast descents can get cold especially if you are damp from the hard climb. Extra layers can be kept in the support vehicle so that you don’t have to carry them but please ensure that you bring good quality kit.
It is also advisable to bring good sun protection.
Peter Rimington ‘From 5th September to the 11th September 2015 I cycled from Morzine to Menton through the Alps with seven others; a route which included almost every Alpine climb that exists and most have been used on the Tour de France at some time.
Challenging? Absolutely! I had never ridden anything like it before and , living in the UK had precious little terrain to gain experience of such terrain. When you attempt something like this, you need all your energy and focus to be on your legs and the bike. You can’t afford any slip ups in the arrangement of accommodation, food, water or support.
Tony and his team were absolutely awesome in every respect. Perfect food, plentiful water and snacks; always ready when needed to take excess clothing or supply needed layers, fully conversant with the route and pitfalls, full of advice about pace, strength preservation and each member giving encouragement and support just when needed. Perfect dinner companions and great friends by the end of the trip.
I cannot recommend this team highly enough and will definitely be using their services to cross off those few cols we did not attempt and to take on a few more in other parts of the world!’
Deborah McMenamin I have been on two fabulous rides in France with Velovation – La Route des Grandes Alpes and Mont Ventoux to Antibes . Vital ingredients for ride leaders are knowledge of route and patience with riders! Both of these were met in Velovation, the result being that all we had to do was pedal, enjoy the scenery and not feel pressured about the pace! Fuel stops were invariably in a scenic location with a delicious spread waiting which had been prepared by Velovation. An extra bonus was to have a talented cameraman in the Velovation team to capture special moments on the rides. Strongly recommended for a challenging yet relaxed tour!
Bruce Macleod I just wanted to say what a great trip you and Tony organised with Georgie. Couldn’t fault it. Superb organisation, comforting attention to detail, attending to every little concern of the group. We felt pampered to the extreme. Some great rides you had scouted, I could do them all over again tomorrow. And the fact that you were open to diversions from your planned course to try something new, added to the moment. Counting down the days to Italy 2017 which will be another high point of my cycling year.