Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine & Col des Saisies

I rode this one in July 2025, a few days before the Tour de France peloton came through on Stage 19. That was the whole point — to put the same two climbs under my own wheels while the names were still fresh on the tarmac and the departmental signage was already up. You don't need to be chasing KOMs to feel the occasion; the paint does half the work.

From Ugine the opening kilometres roll easily along the Val d'Arly, the Arly river on one side and limestone walls closing in on the other. It's a gentle warm-up, which is just as well, because the Côte d'Héry-sur-Ugine doesn't ease you into anything. The road narrows, the trees close overhead, and the gradient starts stacking in irregular ramps through the hamlets above Héry-sur-Ugine. Every so often the forest opens and you can see the Combe de Savoie dropping away behind you. I kept spotting riders' names painted on the road — the usual suspects — and it pulls you up the climb faster than it should.

Over the top, the route strings together a high balcony section before the second climb: wooden Savoyard chalets, cows doing what cows do, and a long view across to the Aravis. A quick drop through Flumet country sets up the Col des Saisies from the north on the D218B. This one is a different animal — steady, rhythmic, the kind of climb where you can actually settle into a gear. Spruce forest gives way to open pasture, ski-lift cables start appearing overhead, and then Mont Blanc shows itself to the east, which is always a moment.

The summit at Les Saisies is pure Tour de France theatre in July. The roundabout at the ski station is decked out with yellow, polka-dot and green jersey cutouts planted in the flowerbeds, and the Espace Diamant plaza was already in race mode when I rolled in. I stopped for a coffee and a slice of tarte aux myrtilles at one of the bar-restaurants on the square — worth the few minutes off the bike. If you prefer something savoury, a Beaufort sandwich does the job; you're in Beaufortain country, after all.

The descent back toward the Arly through Hauteluce and Villard-sur-Doron is fast and flowing, with good sightlines through the sweepers and those stone-and-timber Beaufortain farmhouses flashing past. Legs were cooked by the time I rejoined the valley road back to Ugine, but there's a particular satisfaction in closing a loop on tarmac you know the pros will race on in forty-eight hours. Not epic, not legendary — just a very good day on a very good pair of climbs.