£1,995.00 per person*
($2,533.65 USD or $3,950.10 AUD)
£200.00 deposit
£425.00 single room supplement
There are currently no scheduled dates for this tour, but please contact us if you want to schedule a private tour for six or more people.
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The Raid Pyrénéen is organised by the Cyclo-Club de Bearn in the heart of the Pyrénées. The challenge is to ride from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean over 18 classified cols in only 100 hours including sleep!
A carnet de route is provided, and when returned to the Cyclo-Club with all control stamps present and correct, a prestigious medal is awarded.
Not for the faint-hearted or under-prepared, the Raid is one of the toughest, but also one of the most rewarding, things you will ever do on a bicycle.
We collect from Biarritz airport (direct flights from Paris, London Stansted and Dublin) and Biarritz TGV station (direct trains from both Paris centre and Charles de Gaulle airport) and whisk you the short distance along the Atlantic coast to our hotel in St Jean de Luz.
A leg loosening ride along the Corniche Basque will sharpen our appetites for a splendid dinner at the hotel.
With the first stamp (from the hotel) in our Carnets de Route, we roll down to the coast to make sure we’re going all the way from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, and we’re off! 100 hours to get to the Mediterranean, 710 km and 18 cols to cover!
Luckily, the first day is a relatively gentle introduction. Into the foothills we soak up the Cols de St-Ignace (169m) and de Pinodiéta (176m) before the second control at Espelette, famed for its red peppers. No let up through the gently rising terrain, we have the Col d’Osquich (392m) before arriving at our stop for the night in Lurbe St Christau.
Distance: 155km
An early start today as we tackle four of the legendary cols on the route. First of all is the Col de Marie Blanque, last in the Tour in 2010 when Juan Antonio Flecha was first over. Next up we have the double-header of the Col d’Aubisque (1709m) and Col du Soulor (1479m), although it could be said that doing one from the other doesn’t strictly count! We descend to Argelès-Gazost before the long drag up the valley of the Luz that marks the start of the awesome Col du Tourmalet (2115m). This is real test of the cycling legs and the source of many Tour legends, from Octave Lapize’s cry of ‘Assassins!’ in 1910 to Eugène Christophe, who in 1913 broke and mended his forks but was penalised for having the blacksmith’s boy work the bellows. Our hotel is a lovely family-run maison in the village of Gripp on the descent from the Tourmalet.
Distance: 135km
Rolling down through Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, scene of the Christophe/blacksmith incident, we tackle the Col d’Aspin (1489m) and descend into Arreau. From Arreau, the beautiful ascent of the Col de Peyresourde (1569m) awaits before a pair of relatively short but tough cols: the Col Des Ares (792m), and Col de Portet D’Aspet (1069m). On the ascent of the Portet d’Aspet, stop at the Fabio Casartelli memorial where the young Italian tragically lost his life in 1995. Tonight’s hotel is situated in the town of Saint Girons.
Distance: 145km
Today is the biggest day of riding and will test endurance to the limit! From Saint Girons, we climb the Col de Port (1249m), whose name means ‘Pass Pass’ in French and Occitan, we ride through Tarascon and the spa town of Ax-les-Thermes, and then climb the Col de Pailhères (2001m), which will be featuring in the 2013 edition of the Tour. There is one more substantial col to tackle in the shape of the Col de Jau (1506m), an old ski resort with only one lift and two blue runs. From here it’s downhill all the way to Prades and our hotel for the night.
Distance: 183km
Nearly there! An early start from Prades, to make sure we come in under 100 hours, takes us past the huge Vinca reservoir and sees us conquer the last two more modest cols, the Col St-Pierre (231m) and the Col de la Ternère (233m) in quick succession. Then we fly all the way down to the sea at Banyuls before our final run in along the coast to Cerbère and the warm waters of the Mediterranean. The Raid is completed - Chapeau!
Reward yourself with an afternoon on the beach, or maybe go back to Banyuls for a winetasting. Dinner tonight (quite possibly delicious fresh seafood) can be rather more indulgent and a celebratory glass or two won’t go amiss.
Distance: 85km
After breakfast we say our farewells to new-found companions of the road. We transfer to Perpignan airport for flights to London, Birmingham (UK) and Southampton, and to Narbonne TGV for direct travel to Paris and beyond.
Not all cycle vacations are the same. Compare what is included in a French Cycling Holidays sports tour:
We try to include as much as we can within the price, while keeping things as flexible as possible. With the explosion of low cost airlines and the easy access to the TGV rail system from the UK, we believe that it is more economical and convenient for customers to arrange their own travel to the region. Links to the airlines and railway companies can be found in frequently asked questions.
We provide the transfers to and from the local airports and the nearest TGV stations, and other locations by arrangement. If you have driven down, we arrange secure parking for your car and return you to it after the tour.
We stay in very comfortable hotels, mostly 3*, occasionally 4*, and very occasionally superior 2* hotels which we choose if they have charm and comfort above their rating. All rooms have en-suite shower or bath facilities.
We select our hotels for their character as well as their facilities, and avoid chains in favour of independent privately run hotels.
Prices are based on two sharing in twin or double rooms. Singles are available on request. Where possible, we choose hotels with swimming pools as there is nothing quite like a dip after a day in the saddle!
It is sometimes necessary to change accommodation for reasons of room availability, minor adjustments to the route or upgrading the hotels. We will always endeavour to use hotels of an equal or higher level of comfort/facilities to those shown – please contact us to check for the most up-to-date information regarding your particular tour.
All evening meals are included, and we carefully select the restaurants for cuisine and ambience, and favour those with a strong regional flavour.
All meals include a starter, main course and dessert, some will have an additional cheese course. We are happy to arrange for our restaurants to cater for specific dietary requirements and allergies etc. On sports tours we try to make sure that the meals are suitable for a challenging week of cycling!
We do not include lunch, as the costing of these is beyond our control, but where route and weather allow we organise picnics; these feature copious salads, cold meats, cheeses, crusty bread, fruits, etc, and a choice of drinks; we ask for a contribution for the costs of the consumables, which usually works out at 8 or 9 euros per person per picnic. Where route or weather does not allow a picnic, we recommend suitable cafés and bistros.
Many people prefer to bring their own bikes for sports tours; however, if you would prefer to rent a bike locally, we can provide quality carbon fibre framed road bikes at a reasonable cost. If you are bringing your own bike, we will carry your bike case with us during the week, or arrange for it to be taken to the final hotel and stored.
There will be two guides on every tour; one cycling with the group and one in the minibus which will follow the group. The bus carries all luggage not required for the day's ride and will always be available for anyone at any point during the day. If for instance you want to take a day off the bike, or if a particular day seems a little hard, the bus will take you for as long or as little as you wish it to.
Everybody is provided with detailed route maps for each day, and both guides are easily contactable by mobile phone. The guides are enthusiastic experts on the local area and will be able to sort out any problems or special requests that you might have.
Below we answer all the most common questions that you might ask before choosing a French Cycling Holidays cycling tour. If you have any further questions then please get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.
Anybody who is reasonably active should be able to take part and enjoy our cycling tours in France.
The tours have different levels of physical exertion — whilst the Loire Valley tours and Bordeaux tour are easy going; the Normandy, Provence Roman Heritage, and Burgundy tours are a little more strenuous, whilst the Provence Lubéron, Dordogne and Languedoc tours require a reasonable level of fitness.
For nearly all of our cycling tours an e-bike - electrically assisted bicycle - is an extra-cost option. These bikes apply a 'multiplier' to the level of input provided by the rider, the level of assistance can be adjusted for the terrain. This can be useful if there are members of your party who have very different levels of bike-fitness and experience, as hills that look daunting suddenly become easy with an e-bike. Contact us via the contact page if you would like more details.
The Sports tours are aimed at enthusiast cyclists who might want to bring their own road bikes. However, the rides are not races and there is no time limit - and there is always the minibus if things get too tough!
We would nevertheless recommend that anyone who has not taken any regular exercise for some time consult their doctor before considering any activity-based holiday. Bear in mind that a little regular riding before coming on a cycling vacation will always be a benefit to the experience.
We pick up and drop off from the nearest TGV/railway stations to the start of each tour. (We may be able to drop at a nearer airport or station by arrangement if more convenient for you and logistically possible). This gives everyone the option of making their way by the most economical or convenient means. The major options are:
Ryanair flies into the following airports:
Nimes (for the Provence tours and Languedoc tours; Ryanair also fly out of Beziers and Montpellier for the Languedoc tour); Bergerac (for the Bordeaux tour), Dinard for the Normandy tour, Grenoble for Alpine trips and Pau (for the Classic Cols tour)
Ryanair operates out of Liverpool, London Stansted and London Luton Airports amongst others.
Easyjet flies into Montpellier (for the Provence tours) and out of Bordeaux (for the Bordeaux tour); it flys into Geneva and Lyon for Alpine tours and also out of Nice for the Alpine Raid.
British Airways prices can be reasonable if booked in advance — BA fly into Bordeaux for train transfers to Bergerac (Bordeaux tour), and Marseilles (Provence tours).
If we do not pick up from the airport itself, we will advise on rail connections from the airport to our pick-up points.
The TGV can be an exceptionally quick way of reaching many French destinations from the UK and from Paris for those flying from overseas or UK regions.
The Eurostar SNCF (French National Railways) TGV websites may be useful. As a guide, London St Pancras to Avignon via TGV takes approximately 6½ hours; Tours takes 4 hours. From Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, the point of arrival for most intercontinental flights, Tours is 1½ hours by TGV, Avignon (for Provence) just over 3 hours.
Brive-la-Gaillarde is 4 hours from Paris by rail for the Dordogne tour. We are more than happy to advise on rail options — please contact us. Internet sales from the French SNCF site ( www.voyages-sncf.com sites are possible but are in French; the approved agency for the US and Canada is RailEurope ; however we are happy to advise and help with the French website.
This may be a good choice if your French Cycling Holiday is part of a longer stay. We may be able to arrange parking for your car at or near our first hotel, and return you to your car at the end of the trip. (Note - this service may not be available on certain long-distance tours - please check with us). The major ferry and crossing companies from the UK are Eurotunnel, P&O, Brittany Ferries, LD Lines, Speedferries and SeaFrance.
If it is more convenient for you to hire a car Europcar in our experience has the best rates for rentals where the drop-off is at a different location to the pickup.
However you choose to travel, we are very happy to help you sort out your itinerary.
Pedals are obviously fairly important on a cycling tour! We stock the following kinds:
Flat – i.e. no special cleats or grips, these pedals can be used with any kind of footwear. If you do not regularly use special pedals or cycling shoes, we recommend standard trainers/sneakers to wear while riding.
SPD/flat – we also have pedals with one side flat and one side an SPD cleat. This is the standard Shimano SPD compatible system; two bolts and the small cleat pictured on the shoe with the yellow sole. These cleats are ideal for cycling tours as the cleat is usually recessed into the bottom of the shoe.
Flats with cages – we have a small number of flat pedals with cages & straps – again if you are not used to this, we wouldn’t recommend starting a tour with them!
Other – we do NOT stock any other pedal systems. If you use any other kind of pedal, you are very welcome to bring your own and our guides can fit them to your bike for the week. However, we would advise against racing-style pedals such as the Look Keo, Shimano SPD-SL or similar, as these tend to have a large, protruding cleat on the sole of the shoe which makes walking around visits or lunch stops (or even nipping into a public toilet!) quite uncomfortable and dangerous. Sports tours are a little different as there are much longer days and less off-the-bike walking – a choice is ultimately up to you though!
We are happy for anyone to bring their own bikes. However, the budget airlines charge around £50 each way and packing and carriage can be a hassle. Our Trek bikes are of a high standard, and our customers usually express pleasant surprise at the quality of the machines, so it might be a better option to bring your saddle and/or pedals which we will be very happy to fit. In any case there will always be a backup bike should you have a mechanical problem. Please feel free to call us for advice on bike transportation.
The main thing that people who are not regular distance cyclists worry about is a sore behind. This is not as is popularly thought due to too-hard saddles, but friction between skin and garments. This is why professional cyclists wear skin-tight lycra shorts with padded inserts. Many people feel a bit self-conscious in this sort of gear and your local cycle shop will have a range of padded undershorts which can be worn under normal clothing, or regularly styled shorts with sewn-in padded liners. Otherwise, lightweight comfortable clothing (tee-shirts, shorts, trainers) is ideal, with something warmer like a fleece just in case. As we will be dining well, you might like to take something presentable (but not formal — no-one on a French Cycling Holiday stands on ceremony!) for the evening meal.
As well as being an active holiday, sampling the best that France has to offer, we believe that our trips should be an opportunity to meet people and make new friends. Our groups are limited to a maximum of 16, which is the largest number that we can give a personal service to, and a minimum of 6 people, which we feel is the number needed to achieve a group spirit. If we cannot achieve this number, we may cancel the tour giving a minimum of five weeks notice.
We time our tours so that the weather should be ideal for cycling for each tour. For that reason we have our Provence and Languedoc tours in the late spring and early autumn, rather than in high summer when it can be too hot to cycle comfortably after 10 a.m. The Loire Valley, Dordogne, Bordeaux and Burgundy tours are more temperate, which is why we concentrate these tours in July and August. We cannot guarantee the weather, but it would be very unlucky to have more than one wet day on any of the tours.
There is no specific upper age limit — the only constraint is a reasonable level of fitness. Children between 10 and 16 are welcome as part of family groups. We do not recommend these tours for children under 10.
We require all participants to have travel insurance with full medical cover. It is part of the conditions of our tours that participant should provide evidence of suitable cover. If you have any questions about the cover required please contact us for advice.
In accordance with “The Package Travel, Package Tours Regulations 1992” customers of French Cycling Holidays Limited will be indemnified in respect of their net ascertained financial loss sustained arising from the cancellation or curtailment of the declared trip travel arrangements arising solely from the event of the financial failure of French Cycling Holidays Limited.
This insurance has been arranged by Towergate Chapman Stevens through Hiscox Insurance Company Limited.
