Loop 3: Col de l'Izoard via Case Déserte – Queyras Mountains

Tiring tour because, in less than 100 km, it manages to make us stay more than two thousand m. in altitude and some really tough climbs, but highly recommended for the wonderful landscapes that it allows you to admire. The grand boucle would start from Mont-Dauphin gare, the lowest point at about 900m. but, for ease of access, I started it from Briancon. From km zero and up to Mont-Dauphin you follow secondary roads with very little traffic and very scenic, then the route is obligatory even if, after Guillestre, I followed a recommended detour for bikes along "rue de la vista", a secondary road parallel to the Guil valley overlooking the main road, very panoramic. Unfortunately, having passed Arvieux, I reached my limits, first the mental ones (using the "rapportino" even where the slopes were not prohibitive) and then, from the memorial stone of the legendary Fausto I also reached the physical limits (cramps) and I was forced to walk the last two km! A tip: along the way there is plenty of water because in almost all the villages there is at least one fountain ... but bring stocks of salts and bars, I had finished both !!!

So thought in between and heard above as one racing cyclist said to the other: "D - the two of them didn't know anything about the relentless headwind on the last 15km back to Guillestre!

Video 👉 (Tuscan)Tour De France - Vlog 2/4: Col d'Izoard (via Pallon) https://youtu.be/Qs_QUo7QIvY Pics 👉 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cuy-ligsDd2/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== https://twitter.com/in_scia/status/1680900280467050499?s=46&t=CouqpXLlpvY0-3etpsvGUA

And today is another great day, that of the Izoard, another of the reasons why I designed this route. Even today we start unloaded. After the "hit" the day before, I was afraid I wasn't fresh enough to tackle the Izoard immediately the following day. Luckily the leg responds well. I decide to make the loop clockwise for several reasons. The first is on advice because it's more beautiful as a climb, but after having done the ring I don't think we can say that the north side is really more beautiful than the south, quite the contrary. They are certainly very different, frighteningly beautiful. I think we can rightly speak of "beautiful and sublime": the north side is naturally beautiful, the south is sublime. The second reason why I decide to do the tour clockwise is that I want to avoid the heat that I would inevitably get starting from Briançon, and also making such a bare southern slope. The climb "hits" right away. Here too I find the mileage stakes that help quantify the suffering in terms of slope and distance. I often wonder if it is better to dilute the suffering in several kilometers with less slope or better to concentrate it in a few kilometers with more slope: all at once or little by little? A question that has a lot if not philosophical, certainly existential. I'm not too bad, at least by feeling. All very nice and fresh, it's not the Izoard I'm expecting, since I'm already above 2000m and I can still see arboreal vegetation. Here too, as with Mr Galibier, you suffer up to the last km and beat as much as you can. It is the arrival that impresses, because suddenly the trees disappear and everything is bare. At the top, a stele recalls what the Izoard is, from a military and tourism point of view: yes, with a capital "T", given that together with "Vars and Cayolle they allowed the Touring Club of France to conceive the project of the Route des Grandes Alpes" which is a beautiful thing which includes the major French Alpine hills, including Lautaret and Galibier visited yesterday. A quick coke to refresh the spirit and then, down fast. I'd really like to dive down, but I can't, because the landscape is truly incredible and you have to stop and contemplate and take some photos: a lunar landscape to say the least. La Casse Deserte, with its rock spikes immersed in the stony ground. The descent is beautiful and in any case safe - a wide road with very good asphalt. I arrive at the crossroads for Colle dell'Agnello: there is the temptation to discard to the left and try this too but, realizing that the Agnello is certainly not around the corner, I continue along the established plan. I think it's basically over now and there's only a few km of easy plain to do. In reality it will not be like this, because the part begins if not more difficult, at least more annoying.

Not to be done on a day like today (7° and rain...) but one of the most beautiful tours of the Western Alps

Your first time on the Izoard is unforgettable. Every meter offers you an exceptional view.