Crossing the Alps by Bike

There are many reasons why we ride, but for those who make the effort to travel far and wide to explore new roads (you!), “adventure” must be up near the top. The promise of adventure and exploration was certainly the main reason Gerry started guiding clients in 2010, and is still his motivation many years later.

And so it wasn’t very surprising that one day Gerry found himself laying on the couch, reading a book called La Grande Traversée des Alpes (by Jean Annequin, a friend of a friend), and his excellent idea of crossing the entire Alps mountain range instantly made perfect sense for 44|5 Cycling Tours.

The concept was simple, but it was loaded with possibilities for adventure – a series of cycling tours that, when pieced together, would trace a rough route from one end of the Alps to the other. Finish them all and you’ll have some major bragging rights with your cycling friends back home!

Starting just behind the luxury villas of the Côte d’Azur in southeast France, the Alps rise dramatically and travel north, forming the border between France and Italy, before arching to the east for a long trip through Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia and Austria.

There are many possibilities to cut your way through the highest and longest mountain range in Europe, with the full route being well over 2000km long, if done in a ‘straight line’. For the cyclist you have an extended menu of mountain passes and roads made famous by the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Tour of Austria, Tour of Slovenia and Tour de Suisse – Bonette, Galibier, Madeleine, Cormet de Roselend, Izoard, Vars, Petit and Grand Saint Bernards, Gotthard, Furka, Nufenen, Grosse Scheidegg, Rettenbach Glacier, Kitzbuheler Horn, Stelvio, Sella Ronda, Giau, Tre Cime, Zoncolan, Großglockner, Kitzbüheler Horn, Vršič, Mangart’s Saddle and Klanška Škrbina to name just a few in each country. There are also countless beautiful and quiet roads that do not often make their way into Grand Tours, but are no less enjoyable to ride.