Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard

We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way up to the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard is the longer way, taking 31km from the Alpine town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, but it averages just 4.4% gradient and never gets above 6%. The hard way means a detour via the village of Montvalezan, which shaves 5km off the distance but throws in some vicious, steep sections that spike up to 13%. Both routes are equally attractive, but the hard way has a road that’s pink, so let’s go the hard way.

Taking the pistes

Bourg-Saint-Maurice sits in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeast France, just below Mont Blanc and near to the border with Italy.