Most cols are like a good story - there are usually two sides to it!
The Col de Tamie is a beautiful and gentle col, especially when approached from the Annecy side as on this ride.
Standing at 907m in height and situated in the Bauges Massif, the first ascent of the col was made by the Tour de France in 1957 with a further 8 climbs to date.
We begin the day in Ugine from where we are straight on the cycle path to Faverges. Here we take a left on to the D12 and the northern slope to the Tamie. At just over 10km in length, we will ascend 392m at a pleasant average gradient of 3.9%. It's not a total walk in the park though as the first km is the toughest and packs a punch at an average 6.5%. With the first few challenging km behind us, we cross back into the Savoie, before reaching the summit.
Over the top we descent the steeper, southern aspect towards Albertville, enjoying the ride almost as much as the spectacular views across to Mont Blanc.
With the climbing behind us for the day, we spin the legs on the final 30km back to Moutier along the valley floor.
