Col de la Croix de Fer

Nearly 30 kilometers long and with several sides leading to the summit, the Col de la Croix de Fer is one of the most famous Alpine climbs in road cycling. It has been climbed dozens of times by the Tour de France, and at the summit is an iron cross, which gives it its name.

You leave Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne with the valley behind you and a long climb ahead. The first section ascents through villages and opens up gradually, giving your legs time to find their rhytm before the road starts to bite.

Past Saint-Sorlin-d'Arves, the trees thin out and the terrain gets serious. You're exposed to whatever the weather is doing, with the high ridgeline visible ahead and the road cutting across open rock and pasture toward the iron cross at the top.