We’ll ride to the highest peak of Montagne Noire, Pic de Nore. The Tour de France made its first visit to this great climb in 2018. For us, we’ve been training on it for years.
Pic de Nore We may be biased for where we are located, as our European headquarters are less than 30km away. It is a wonderful area to ride and it is where World Champion, Laurent Jalabert grew up. Do you travel to an area and look for the highest peak, and wonder what roads will …
Pic de Nore
We may be biased for where we are located, as our European headquarters are less than 30km away. It is a wonderful area to ride and it is where World Champion, Laurent Jalabert grew up. Do you travel to an area and look for the highest peak, and wonder what roads will take you there? Done. Ride mapped! We’ll ride to the highest peak of Montagne Noire, Pic de Nore. The Tour de France made its first visit to this great climb in 2018. For us, we’ve been training on it for years.
The 12.5km climb starts just out of Mazamet. First you ride along the gorge and then follow a narrow forest road under canopy. You can set a nice cadence. As you reach the midpoint of the climb it steepens before arriving at a picnic area. After the picnic area, the steady gradient allows you to push on a little harder. Reaching the summit gives you an incredible vista of the chain of mountains forming the Pyrenees as well as looking across the Aude plain to the Mediterranean. We find this to be a special location.
Once at the summit we’ll descend through some beautiful villages and the 4 castles of Lastours. We’ll finish our ride in Carcassonne under the medieval castle, the best restored citadel in the world. A scenic and challenging ride, before we venture onto Provence. Our hotel for the next 3 nights is a beautiful Provence hotel. It has its own pool and each night we will dine on the terrace enjoying delicious food from the area.
TODAY IN THE RACE
Rest Day 2: Nîmes, Rest day 2After a short, yet intense second week, riders will take their rest in Nîmes. Once settled in to their hotel rooms the night before, riders will welcome a three night stay which will help aide their preparation for the final week.