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La Bollène Vésubie / Coaraze Route des Grandes Alpes Gravel
55,23 Km
6 h 00 min
Very difficult
55,23 km cycling route from La Bollène Vésubie to Coaraze
From the level of the Col de Turini, the highpoint of this stage, our cycle route takes a radically different route from the classic Route des Grandes Alpes®, the latter leading riders via Moulinet to Sospel in the Bévéra Valley. You, however, will turn off for the Paillon Valley, following it all the way down as far as Nice. Setting off from the Turini Pass, you’ll descend through Mediterranean forests from 1,800m to 1,000m in altitude, riding along tracks that follow a ridge made up of peaks that get gradually lower: the Tête de la Fougassa, the Cime de l’Escaillou, the Tête du Pin, the Cime de Peïra Cava, the Cime du Pra de Court, the Cime de Rocaillon, the Cime du Tournet and the Cime du Savel. Following the Paillon de Contes tributary from on high, you’ll reach the medieval village of Coaraze, perched on a rocky outcrop at 650m in altitude, surrounded by mimosas, pines and chestnut trees.
Elevation of the stage
3124 m 3053 m
Details of the stage
↗ 1830 m ↘ 1910 m High/low point 1693 m / 548 m Max gradient 16 %
Passage points
LA BOLLENE-VESUBIE > Chemin de Malagratta > Granges du Blavé > COL DE TURINI > M2566 > Baisse de Peïra-Cava > piste de Beccas > D21 (route du Col de l’Orme > M2566 > COL SAINT-ROCH > Col du Savel > M15 > COARAZE.
Don't miss
- Col de Turini : The Monte Carlo Rallye has made the Col de Turini (a pass at 1,607m in altitude) famous. However, on our Route des Grandes Alpes Gravel®, you won’t take on the same hairpin bends to cross it. The Col de Turini links the Vésubie Valley to the Bévéra Valley (and Sospel), but it also links it to the Paillon Valley, leading down to Nice. From its height, it offers a magnificent belvedere over the wider area.
- Coaraze, a member of the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France : Coaraze, located at 650m in altitude, in a tremendous setting close to the Parc National du Mercantour, is a member of the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Its steep, cobbled lanes, its vaulted passageways, its stone houses sometimes covered in colourful plaster in blue, yellow or pink tones (in the Italian fashion) and its flower-filled squares have attracted many artists down the years, among them Jean Cocteau and Alfonso Ponce de Léon, who signed their names on sundials around the village.
- Fancy some wild bathing? Close to the village of Coaraze, the clear waters of the Planfaé stream cut through a steep canyon, creating a series of little waterfalls and deep pools in which you can go bathing, in the midst of nature, making sure not to disturb the stream’s banks in any way, of course!
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