You will be met by your Skedaddle representative on arrival and transferred to Bedoin where we spend our first night. After building bikes we’ll settle in for the evening and dine together at which time your Skedaddle guides will talk through what is in store for your week ahead.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch
• Ascent: 2,300 Metres Approx.

Main Climb: Mont Ventoux

We begin our adventure with one of the most feared climbs in professional cycling – the legendary Mont Ventoux. The mountain dominates the countryside and can be seen from miles around in all directions. Ventoux has featured in the Tour de France numerous times since 1951 and today we are going to climb it from the most challenging, most famous and most notorious side – the ‘classic’ Tour de France route from Bedoin. It’s a challenging opening to our tour, with little in the way of a warm up, but the mountain is something of a cyclists’ Mecca and you’ll be in good company with literally hundreds of cyclists making the journey to the summit every day during the summer months.

The celebrated British cyclist Tom Simpson died on this ascent during the 1967 Tour de France and on the way up there is an opportunity to visit his memorial, pay your respects and catch your breath before tackling the final km to the summit of the mountain.

After reaching the summit we descend to Sault where we can enjoy a picnic lunch before continuing onwards through the beautiful Provence countryside to the pretty village of Cruis which will be our home for the night.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch
• Ascent: 2,600 Metres Approx.

Main Climb: Col d‘Allos

After a long warm up through Provence’s famous lavender fields, we move into the southern Alps. The main climb of the day, the Col d’Allos runs more or less parallel with its 2 sister climbs the Col de Cayolle and the Bonnette de Restefond, with them all converging within 8km of each other on the far side of the range.

Initially the Col d’Allos (2,250m) follows a stunningly beautiful gorge before opening out onto a winding meadow approaching the summit. Here we will observe, for the first time of many in our tour, Napoleonic forts, some of which have been converted to restaurants and cafes. The views from here are epic and far reaching and we will, if the conditions are good, catch our first glimpse of the ‘Haute’ (high) Southern Alps. We’ll then descend swiftly from the Col d’Allos. For those in need of a little more, there is an opportunity to tackle the short but punchy climb of Pra-Loup, the setting of Bernard Thévenet’s infamous victory over Eddy Mercx in the 1975 Tour de France, where he managed to turn what had been a one-minute deficit at the foot of the climb into a two-minute advantage at the top.

After an epic day in the saddle, most riders prefer to continue straight down into the valley to Barcelonette for a well deserved rest.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch
• Ascent: 2,700 Metres Approx.

Main Climbs: Col du Vars and Col d‘Izoard

Our first climb is the Col du Vars which nearly always features alongside the Col d’Izoard when the peloton visits the region. Today, we will be riding both cols together just like the pros in the 2017 Tour de France.

We begin the day gently as we head up a narrow valley, moving towards Italy. We turn off in the direction of Vars just before reaching the border and begin a beautiful and varied climb which switches back numerous times, offering a chance to see the native ground of squirrels or marmots as we near the summit.

From here we have a long and exhilarating descent to Guillestre, followed by a beautiful ride through the gorged valley to the foot of the Col d’Izoard. The ascent is very beautiful with some of the most dramatic scenery of the journey, and just prior to reaching the main summit the road drops away with a short 0.5km descent into a barren landscape of scree slopes with protruding pinnacles of weathered rock known as the Casse Deserte. Soon the road begins to rise again and the famous Bobet and Coppi memorials can be seen mounted on the rocks on the left hand side of the road just before reaching the summit.

We’ll spend the night in Briancon.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch
• Ascent: 1,600 Metres Approx.

Main Climbs: Col du Lauteret, Col du Galibier

After a few km of relative flat we immediately commence our assault on the Col du Lauteret. This climb is a main transitional climb which connects the southern Alps to the northern Alps and beyond to Grenoble. The climb is steady all the way to its summit and the kilometres pass surprisingly quickly.

We then tackle one of the monuments of Le Tour, the Col du Galibier, a monster of a climb which featured twice in the 2011 Tour de France to commemorate its 100-year association with the great race. The Galibier is one of the more challenging alpine climbs and definitely one of the most scenic, with a steep and narrow road to the summit which seems to twist and turn for an eternity. The air is noticeably thin as we approach the summit and the peak is often snow-capped even during mid-summer. From here we enjoy a descent to Valloire which is our base for the night. As this is a shorter day you will have time to enjoy arguably the most famous col in France and to rest up in the late afternoon in the pretty village of Valloire.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch
• Ascent: 2,000 Metres Approx.

Main Climb: Col du Glandon

We begin with a short leg warming climb out of Valloire up to the top of Col du Telegraphe before descending into the jaw dropping scenery of the Maurienne valley.

After some valley riding we then move onto the Col du Glandon, a remote climb with ever changing scenery of pine forest, meadows and rugged peaks. From the top of Glandon an extra 3km leads us to the summit of its sister climb, the Croix de Fer, where we can enjoy a quick coffee before heading down to the lower part of Vaujany and the shores of the Verney lake where we usually have our picnic lunch. Here we can replenish our energy reserves in preparation for the challenges that lie ahead tomorrow.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch
• Ascent: 1,475 Metres Approx.

Main Climb: Alpe d’Huez

This is the day every cycling fan dreams of, the day we ride the most famous of all alpine climbs – the legendary Alpe d’Huez – 14km of sheer hairpinned bliss. As we climb in the tyre marks of the greats of the Tour de France, we count down each and every one of the 21 famed hairpin bends before finally reaching this high ski station.

After lunch, we descend back to Vaujany by a lesser known back road, with fantastic views over the valley below to Bourg d’Oisans.

• Meals: Breakfast

Following our final continental breakfast and with a whole heap of legendary climbs bagged, we leave the Alps behind and head to Geneva for our return journeys back home.