On Italian and French border roads
So far we have had fantastic weather, and the view from the hotel window is uplifting today too. However, when we look up, the fog clouds lies in the hillside. The asphalt is dry and we are in good spirits. We take time for a good breakfast, pack the bikes and do a final check of the equipment before we set off. The highlight of the whole trip and the day lies ahead of us – Colle delle Finestre and Colle dell’Assietta – in other words old military and gravel roads. Let them come.
Dag 5: Tirsdag 5.9.
Susa – Sestriere – Briancon – 88 km
Our first destination for today is Sestriere, via Colle delle Finestre and Colle dell’Assietta. It’s not far from the hotel til the start of the climb up towards Finestre. It’s not difficult to find the road, it’s well signposted in the direction of Colle delle Finestre. First we ride through some buildings, then it starts a narrow asphalt road that winds up through the forest and the steep valley side. It eventually becomes extremely winding, and it’s also full of pine cones, so we take it easy. We have asphalt all the way up until road flattens.
After about 10 km the asphalt ends and we enter Strada Colle delle Finestre. From now on it’s gravel and rocks. It starts nicely, but now we’ve come up into the fog and have extremely poor visibility. The pace become slow. The road quality has also decreased, and I’m not sure if we would have gone so much faster even if the visibility had been better. We eventually catch up with a couple of Germans. We have little feeling for the surroundings. A couple of times I sence there is a clff to the right but I am not sure, the fog effectively hides a possible abyss.
The road conditions become more varied. In some places there are ruts, then some loose sand/gravel and then some large rocks and rough rock fill. But at the pace we are keeping, this is manageable even for the 750X, while Bror on the 1250 GS has slightly more reserves. Then the fog lifts a bit and we are at the top of Colle delle Finestre at 2178 meters. We have climbed about 1653 meters since the start of today’s stage.
We are not alone up here. Besides the two Germans we have been following for a few kilometres now, there are a couple of cars, and behind us are a couple of Frenchmen, one of whom has a very good pace. We have chosen the most demanding road up here, as we tip down on the south side we have asphalt under the tires andr ide a couple of kilometres down to Pian dell’Alpe where we keep right and continue for another kilometre on asphalt before we reach our next stage – the road to Colle dell’Assietta.
At the crossing we are met by a signboard that could scare anyone into continuing on the asphalt down to the valley. But we have done our homework – the road is open today, but is closed on Wednesdays and Saturdays in July and August. In the period October to June it is closed for the winter.
We get an abrupt start and a brutal taste of what awaits us. The first few meters are rocky and rutted after heavy rainfall. We don’t let ourselves be intimidated and set off. After about 450 meters we come to the official start of Strada dell’Assietta. And we are not reassured by the road standard, here it is demanding. But when we get going, the conditions improve, but anyone expecting Norwegian gravel road standards will be disappointed – this is a really rough road. The image from the intersection where the road starts on Google Street View from May 2023 is not representative of what we are experiencing now in September.
The fog is lighter down here and we set off with good courage. There is no reason to challenge the 30 km/h speed limit just yet. Bror’s BMW works better in such conditions than my Honda. I wouldn’t have expected anything else. Longer suspension travel and a 19-inch front wheel have some advantages on this surface. But Bror is steadily behind, quite far behind in fact and with good reason. It is somewhat dusty behind me. We catch up with a couple of cars, so I get to feel the dust too. Then the enterprising Frenchman from Colle delle Finestre comes along at a fairly brisk pace. He slows down a bit as he passes, then it is full throttle – and thanks – visibility was poor before and it didn’t get any better from the cloud of dust he is stirring up.
Even though we are riding on the Assietta edge, we will be crossing several hills, the first is Colle dell’Assietta (2472 meters), then Testa dell’Assiettta (2545 meters), then Colle Lauson (2497 meters), Colle Bleger (2381 meters), Monte Genevris (2536 meters), Colle Costa Piana (2313), Colle Bourget (2299 meters) and Colle Basset (2424 meters) – in other words, we stay at altitude, and we don’t really have any steep climbs.
As we get higher, we ride into the fog again, and the parts of the road we feared the most due to the altitude are not visible to us. The steep drops on the left side are hidden in the fog.
Now we are done with the scariest part of the route – the part where the steep slope on the left just disappears into the abyss. The landscape opens up as the fog lifts and suddenly we have clear blue sky above us. We take a quick break at Margheria dell’Assietta. We brush off the dust and enjoy a little refreshment and we can see the view point at Colle dell’Assietta. After a few pictures we continue. Bror first, he disappears in a mists that comes between us, but byt the time I get going the fog is gone, but not far away. It lies like a light blanket under us when we stop at the parking lot at Colle dell’Assietta at 2472 meters.
There are more people than us who have found their way up here, both by car and motorbike. We make som more pictures and continue on a relatively steady dirt road, which continues to climb until we reach the highest point of the road and pass below the statue Obelisco della battaglia dell’Assietta, it stands to remind of a battle that took place here in July 1747 where more than 5,000 people lost their lives.
Bror get a small lead. The GS would stretch out a bit I think, and Bror was not hard to ask. The NC is not as well suited to the sometimes slightly rough dirt road. I still enjoy myself and the view up here is fantastic, both to the north and south. This is exactly what we came for. The road is not to demanding, except for a few shorter sections it is like the dirt roads we are used to from home. I make no attempt to catch up with Bror.
We are riding on the north side of the ridge when the road abruptly turns left. Just at the bend I meet a group of enduro bikes, and out of the bend there is a steep climb with a large ditch in the road and as I pick up speed to get up I see that Bror’s jacket is in the middle of the ditch. I manage to fetsch it without getting off the bike, and put it on the tank bag for a while, and try to get going again. I manage well, and after Mont Gevernis (2536 meters) is Bror waiting, still unaware that he havelost his jacket.
We make a break here, To guys on proper adventure bikes show up. They are on a test ride and enjoy them self . They are suprised to see that we are riding on street tires and to little luggage. Hard luggage, top case and little bags all over the bike is not necessary and we have not missed the knobby tires. May be we would have if the road had been wet. Later on our route we met a guy with an even lighter machine than ours: He rode the Assietta on a Piaggio 125 ccm scooter. We are going to meet him later today, on the french side of the border.
As we continue the road is going down, and as we start wondering how far down we will go we come to a new climb. The road alternates, for a short period we ride on the south side and the north side of the mountain ridge, as we work our way towards Sestriere. We have green grassy slopes on both sides of the road and it’s not far down to the spruce forest. It’s an open and inviting landscape and the sky is big. A little further down the valley the fog still lies like a blanket. We pass Colle Basset (2424 meters). Here we have several alternative routes, but we choose to stay on Strada dell’Assietta and haven’t ridden far before we find an excuse for a short break and a small detour. Now we are near the lift system around Sestriere and we ride under the lift and up to an open space behind the lift house where there is a great view to the north.
From here it is all downhill, and we are surprised by how quickly we arrive in Sestriere. The explanation for the rapid descent is simple – the famous ski resort is located at an altitude of 2000 meters! On the French side, the fog is gone by now and we head towards Briancon. It is too early to stop todays ride. We have lunch in Briancon before we add a small bonus stage. When the main event is done before three o’clock, there is room for several passes before the evening.
Briancon – Col Agnel – Briancon – 121 km
We ride down to the center of Briancon and find the sign for Col d’Izoard. The 2360-meter pass is worth a trip in itself, and things have happened here since I was last here. New buildings have been raised, but the well-known pillar stands there as before, and the mountains themselves are the same. Especially Casse Déserte on the south side of the pass is special.
If you are looking for curves, there are plenty of them on both the north and south sides. After riding for several hours on gravel it is nice to be able to enjoy some miles of asphalt again. The Dunlop Mutant tires worked great on the gravel roads on the Assietta. I knew that from gravel roads at home, and on asphalt they are fully up to par with regular sports touring tires. I am very happy and enjoy the curves the south side of the Col d’Izoard.
The next pass is already entered on the GPS. Col Agnel will be the highest pass of the day at 2744 meters above sea level. We turn left onto the D947 road and follow the signs for Col Agnel (Italy). We drive in a queue through Chateau-Ville-Vieille. Here the road is so narrow that traffic lights have been set up for traffic through the city center, which easily leads to queues. Towering over the city is Fort Queyras, an important fortress built as a castle in 1265. With its strategic location, it has been important for defending this part of France.
Just over 2.5 kilometers further up the valley we come to a roundabout and we keep right at the first exit and follow the D5 road over Le Guil. The road now rises steadily and we drive through small towns where the road sneaks around the corners of houses. After Molines-en-Queyras we keep left on the D205 and the road continues into the valley. We approach the start of the valley, and the mountains stand like a wall in front of us with the pass on the right. We ride some hairpins with moderate inclines. The road is visibel all the way up to the pass. We do not stop, but continue over to the Italian side. Here a completely different topography meets us. The gentle hillsides have been replaced by steep mountain sides and a blanket of fog lies like an ocean below us.
I had originally planned to ride to the small town of Chianale and have a refreshment before the return journey to Briancon. But when we come down in the fog there is zero visibility and at this altitude it is also relatively cool. We turn around very soon and take a short break at the parking lot on the pass. A refreshment in Chianale will have to be another time.
Now it’s back the same way we came that matters. There is an alternative route down the valley; in the center of Font Gillarde there is a road to the left, it will lead you onto a fun detour that we got to know a couple of years ago when the road was closed a little further down the valley. The road is narrow, but entertaining and an alternative if you don’t want to drive the same way down to Molines-en-Queyras.
We stay on the main road this time, and enjoy the ride back to Col d’Izoard where we take a quick break, before rolling down to Briancon, and up to the hotel which is located right at the entrance to the old town. Now we both feel that there has been a lot of riding today, even though the day’s stage in kilometers (198 km) is not that impressive. There was a lot of altitude gain, and the trip over Assietta was more entertaining than usual, even though the fog stole some of the altitude experience. After a well-deserved dinner in the old town, sleep came as soon as our heads hit the pillow.
Vår overnatting i Briancon:
Hotel Le Cristol, 6 Rte d’Italie, 05100 Briancon
E-post: contact@hotelcristol.fr. Tlf.: +33 (0)4 92 20 20 11
Les også:
Tour des Alpes 2023 – I, The start
Tour des Alpes 2023 – II, Into the mountains
Tour des Alpes 2023 – IV, Franske alpepass og litt til