Alpine Biking - Tour de Romandie

In selecting the countries/regions for  my blog, I checked in with friends and family to get their suggestions, and my Dad is the one who inspired me to check out the Alps. Dad is a big cyclist these days, and he's been following some of the races that wind their way through Alpine regions, and there happens to be one going on right now!

The Tour de Romandie is a 6 day race through the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and it began in 1947.  The race has a little bit of everything - flat stages, time trials, and a tough mountain finish that ends in some breathtaking Alpine scenery.  The race is known for having some narrow passages and for traversing ancient roads - some of which dating back to the Romans!

Here are some pix of the race in years past:

I loooooove this picture. I watched a Rick Steves Alpine show the other day and there were cows EVERYWHERE in Switzerland, so this seems super fitting!

This is the map for this year's race.

I read one cyclists' description of the yesterday's route - which tackled classic Romandie countryside complete with narrow, twisty roads and lush hills, and climaxed with a climb up Col du Pillon, with the cyclists reaching 1545 meters before descending to a ski resort. Whew!