It’s Tour de France season once again! And alongside being both stunned and impressed by the insane speed and power the riders from the pro peloton are able to sustain, day in and day out. Chances are you’ve also got a little bit of cycling route envy. Because let’s face it, when you’ve spent hours watching the elites tearing through the stunning French countryside and blasting up climbs in the Pyrenees and the Alps. The routes on your own front doorstep might not look quite as inspiring.
The good news is, if you’re feeling inspired by the Tour de France and you want to escape your everyday environment to pretend you’re a GC contender rolling on the roads of France. There are plenty of great French routes to explore on the virtual reality cycling platform, ROUVY. Not sure where to start? Check out our top picks below, and if you’re not already a ROUVY rider you can get an extended 5 week free trial for a limited time only with code SUMMERONROUVY!
Best French Tour routes on ROUVY
Climbers, rev your engines! Because if you’re going to take a tour of France on ROUVY, you’re going to have to embrace some elevation. Our top 5 pick of the best French Tour routes on ROUVY had to include some of the savage (but iconic) climbs the pro riders will be tackling in real life during the various stages of this year’s Tour. But for those of you who prefer the flats, we’ve cherry picked a couple of options if you’re looking to keep things on the down low.
Lille
Make like the pros and kick off your ROUVY tour in Lille. This short but sweet 20km route is fast and flat, taking in quintessential French hamlets and farm land. You’ve got a couple of little rollers in there, but with a total of 53m elevation gain there’s nothing too drastic to test the legs. Take it easy and enjoy the scenery, or switch to time trial mode and see how high up the leader board you can get!
Caen
Speaking of time trial mode, for the powerhouses out there looking to see if they could give Evenepoel a run for his money you can take on a 33km time trial on ROUVY’s Caen route – the city in France’s Normandy region which played host to the first ITT on this year’s Tour. Can you beat Remco’s rapid 54km/h average pace? Only one way to find out!
Mount Ventoux
Right, it’s time to hit the hills! And of course, we’ve got to start with the iconic Mount Ventoux. The 31.15km route on ROUVY takes you from Bedoin to Mount Ventoux, with 21km of legendary ascent. It’s a climb that features on many-a cyclists’ bucket list – so until you can go and experience the real thing, what better way to prepare than riding it on ROUVY?
Col de la Loze
Conquered Ventoux? On this year’s Tour, the pro peloton have just one day of respite with a sprint stage before they have to take on stage 18 which – as CYCLING247 writer Phil Gale called it in our TdF route preview – is a ‘real monster’. That’s largely thanks to the inclusion of the Col de la Loze – infamously ranked as one of the most challenging climbs in France. You can get a taste of what the Tour riders are in for by riding the climb on ROUVY. With just shy of 2000m elevation over the 34.58km route, get ready to dig in and feel the burn.
La Plagne
Legs still on board with our virtual tour around ROUVY’s French routes? If you really want to chase the pro peloton, then hop back on the turbo the day after you’ve conquered the Col de la Loze and tackle the La Plagne. Brutal but beautiful, this alpine climb features steep gradients and sharp switchbacks – but the (virtual) scenery is plenty reward!
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