Turini belongs to the Monte Carlo Rally more than to any map. For decades the rally's night stage over this pass has been one of the most famous in motorsport, the Nuit du Turini, when spectators light fires in the forest and cars appear out of the darkness with a wall of floodlights. At 1,607 metres, the col is not especially high, but it is wrapped in a dense forest of fir and larch, which is why the hairpins on both sides are so intimate, with rock walls and tree trunks flashing past close to your shoulder.
The pass links the Vésubie valley with the Bévéra and Roya valleys, a mountainous hinterland that is only an hour or so behind the glitz of Nice and Monaco but feels like a different country. The villages here are stone-built and perched, with names like La Bollène-Vésubie and Moulinet, and the roads between them follow narrow valleys that smell of resin and wet rock. Nearby, the Mercantour National Park protects wolves, chamois and golden eagles, though what you are more likely to see are cyclists and other bikers, who make this a popular loop on weekends.
The riding is technical rather than fast: tight, blind hairpins, a surface that varies from smooth to patched, and long shadows that keep patches of damp on the road well into the day. Cooler air at altitude also means that tyres may take longer to warm up in the morning. The road is generally open year-round, but snow and ice can close it in winter. On the descent toward Sospel and Menton, the air gets warmer and the vegetation changes to olive and lemon, which is a nice trick.
Lantosque and La Bollène-Vésubie in the Vésubie valley, and Breil-sur-Roya on the other side, have pumps, though hours can be short in the villages, and Nice is the sure bet for services. The nearby hotel-restaurants at the top are a pilgrimage for rally fans, with photos of drivers on the walls, and a plate of local daube or ravioli is a fine reward. In autumn the forest is quiet, with mushrooms and woodsmoke in the air.