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Region: French Alps
Climbing effort: 679 cep
Elevation meters: 680
Steepest kilometer: 10.7%

Steepest 250 m: 12%
Foot: 1228 m    Top: 1908 m
Mean slope: 9.7%
Length: 7.0 km

From: Belleville
Road conditions (2025): moderate
Other race bikers: 0-1 per hour
Motor vehicles: 10-30 per hour
Scenery and road: (4/5)
Restaurant or bar near top: no

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Other climbs French Alps

As far as I am concerned, this is the most beautiful climb in terms of scenery in the region of the climbing paradise of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. In all directions there are views of high mountains. To the south these are closer, with the three sharp, pointed peaks of the Aiguilles d’Arves (3510 metres) as an eye-catcher. To the north, imposing mountains rise everywhere, but at a greater distance. The climb starts on the road from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to the Col de la Croix de Fer, at the junction to Albiez-le-Vieux. It is a short route (7 kilometres), but a demanding one, because it is steep. The first 500 metres are still fairly moderate but the remainder has an average gradient of 10.0%, with very little variation around that value. Up to the village of Chalmieu the road surface is excellent, on the remaining three kilometres it is poor. The climb ends at a car park for hikers. On the beautiful summer day when I biked here, unfortunately many hikers were driving up to this spot by car.

If one considers the stretch along the D926 from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to the starting point chosen here as part of this climb, the ride becomes more than twice as hard. In that case, 688 climb effort points (cep) and 766 metres of elevation gain are added to the 679 cep and 680 elevation metres that this climb has on this website. The profile of this “approach” along the D926 can be found on the page about the south-western ascent of the Col du Mollard (its first 15 kilometres).