100 cols tour part III
Prelude

The 100 cols tour is a 4000-kilometer long route through France and is often called the 'the toughest cycling tour in the world'. It climbs as many mountains as possible while passing through the Pyrenees and Alps.

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Last year Bart and I cycled a first part in May. We started in Giromagny and cycled roughly 1000 km before taking a train home roughly 400 km before reaching the Pyrenees (green route below). Last summer, we took a train back and cycled the entire Pyrenees and most of the way towards the Alps, another 2000 km (blue route below). 

 

This year we planned to cycle the remaining 1000 km from the south of France back north to Giromagny. We could again take the train south, but that would involve spending two full days on trains and about 300 euros worth of tickets. Instead, we have decided to cycle there. Two years ago we cycled to the south of France, so we decided to take the same route as back then. That way, we could determine if we had gotten faster, and it would save much time planning and avoiding wrong turns.

 

What follows is the report of our way south, the Alps section of the 100 cols tour, and our way back home to the Netherlands. Bram has written about the way out (the first seven days) and the return journey (the last four days). Bart wrote the section where we cycled the 100 cols tour (days eight to 17).