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Col de Sarennes

Col de Sarennes.....one of two alternative ways up to Alpe D’Huez, other than the famous 21 bends, this firstly takes you up the valley towards the Col Du Galibier before turning up the Vallée du Ferrand then tackling the Col de Sarennes.  After this there is a short descent, then you follow the road along the Sarennes valley, at a height of approx 1900m for 7km before arriving at the back of the village of Alpe D’Huez.

The whole loop from Bourg D’Oisans is 50km with 1500m of climbing, so good as a practice ride before taking on one of the ‘big cols’, such as the Col de la Croix de Fer or the Col du Galibier.

The picture above left shows the switchbacks just before the summit of the Col, which at 1999m is higher than Alpe D’Huez.  The next section of road down to the ski station of Alpe D’Huez is a little bumpy with one gravel section where it crosses the ski run (the longest black run in the world) so care is needed on the descent!

For some great views of this ride take a look at this blog page when I rode up in Autumn.