Col de Turini & Col de Braus

This is the biggest day I have ever had on the bike in the south of France, and I would not change a thing about it. The route heads west from Menton along the coast toward Monaco, and the first climb begins almost before you expect it -- the road rises behind the principality with views opening up over the whole Cote d'Azur. By the time you reach 600 metres you are already working, and the descent to L'Escarene that follows is fast and technical.

Col de Braus from L'Escarene is the first major test -- 10 km at 6.3% average, with those famous stacked hairpins in the upper section. When I rode this the road was empty and quiet, just the sound of the bike and the switchbacks folding back on themselves above and below. The descent drops you into Sospel, where I stopped at the restored 14th-century bridge for water and a moment to collect myself.

Col de Turini begins almost immediately on the far side of Sospel. The first half is deceptive -- 3 to 4% through pine forest, nothing that feels too demanding. But after the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Menour and the village of Moulinet, the gradient steps up to 7-9% and stays there for the rest of the climb. No respite, no recovery sections. When I reached the summit at 1,604 metres I was empty, but the crêpe stand at the top made everything better.

The 50 km descent to Nice is one of the finest I have ridden anywhere -- hairpins through forest, sweeping open panoramas, through Luceram and back past L'Escarene. The Mediterranean appears below and grows larger until you are on the coast road in Nice itself.

Col d'Eze from Nice completes the day -- 9.77 km at 5.1%, a Paris-Nice staple with views over Villefranche and Monaco. The descent via the Corniche roads above the Mediterranean, through Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and back into Menton, is the perfect way to end what was an extraordinary day on the bike.