He has designed and scouted a new Thonon-les-Bains - Nice route, in gravel mode, which we will make public next spring.
Thomas, can you introduce yourself?
My name is Thomas Triquet, I'm 26 and I'm a Master 2 Tourism student at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. I'm interested in bicycle tourism and cycling itineraries. A former road racing cyclist and after several years of racing, I discovered a new way to practice tourism, riding one of my bikes.
Why this gravel crossing?
As someone who has cycled and driven across the Alps several times, I've always wanted to take the Route des Grandes Alpes® route, which for me is mythical and a must for fans of bike touring and tourism more broadly. In the summer of 2022, I was given the opportunity to design a new gravel route across the Alps for Grandes Itinérances. This led me to carry out several field reconnaissances.
What route have you taken?
As explained earlier, I did several reconnaissance runs. I was able to recognize several sections of the road and the gravel route. Sections geographically distributed all along the alpine route.
To sum up, I covered almost 250 kilometers on roads and trails, from north to south of the Alps. This is only a small part of the future Route des Grandes Alpes® Gravel, which will cover more than 900 km for more than 30,000 m of positive vertical drop.
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With what equipment?
A simple cyclocross, a bottle cage, a speedometer and a GPS phone...
Your tiercé des cols?
La Cayolle because for me it's the prettiest pass there is.
La Bonette, for what it represents. A pass little known to the average person but nevertheless the highest in Europe, a giant!
And the Izoard, for its history with the Tour de France. I could also have mentioned the Galibier ...
Your best and worst memories?
Most memorable: discovering the hamlet of Monal and climbing the Iseran. Worst memory? Breaking my bike frame!
An anecdote?
Meeting people! And the climb up the Parpaillon, where people I passed said "But you're not going to climb with that, are you?"