Col de Turini Morning Attack
3 passes in 299 km, topping out at 592 m
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Why this ride
Scenery first, traffic last, with checkpoints that make sense on a bike. A 299 km loop that starts and ends near Olivetta San Michele, about 5 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, near Seillans and Saint-Laurent-du-Var. The climbs: Théoule-sur-Mer, Cap-d'Ail and Ospedaletti. It tops out at about 1,950 m. It crosses Italy, France and Monaco - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. Long stretches are under trees.
Roadbook
- Fuel stop near Olivetta San Michele
fuel
Olivetta San Michele is a small Ligurian village in the valley of the Bevera, right on the border between Italy and France, a few kilometres up from Ventimiglia. The village clings to steep slopes covered with olive terraces, and its stone houses and church tower look much as they have for centuries. The French town of Sospel lies just upstream, across the border.
The Bevera valley has been a frontier for centuries, fought over by the counts of Savoy, the Republic of Genoa and France. Fortifications from different eras can be found in the hills, including forts built along the Maginot Line's alpine extension in the 1930s. The olive groves produce the small Taggiasca olives that are a speciality of western Liguria, and local oil is excellent.
As a start and fuel stop, Olivetta is close to Ventimiglia, which has plenty of services, and fuel is often cheaper on one side of the border than the other, so it pays to check. The roads from here are spectacular. The route up the Bevera to Sospel winds through a narrow gorge, then climbs to the Col de Brouis or the Col de Braus, both twisting passes with hairpins and views. Beyond Sospel lies the Col de Turini, famous from the Monte Carlo Rally.
Traffic is light on the mountain roads, but watch for cyclists, rally enthusiasts and local drivers who know every bend. Surfaces vary, and some roads are narrow. In summer, start early to avoid the heat; in winter, the high passes can be icy.
- Near Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, on the way back
swim
High above the Tinée, south of Saint-Étienne, the country turns into great bare shoulders of grass and scree. This stop sits on that upland block between the Tinée and the Cians, under the mass of Mont Mounier, with the villages of Roubion, Beuil and Valberg scattered around its flanks. It is a long way from anywhere: the nearest proper towns are down in the Var valley, and the coast is a good hour and a half away.
The roads that cross this region are the reason to come. The D30 climbs from the Tinée through Roubion to the Col de la Couillole, all tight hairpins carved out of the mountainside with drops on the outside that make you concentrate. From Beuil, the Gorges du Cians run south, and the upper section is cut through deep red slate, the road squeezed under overhangs barely wider than a car. Few rides in the Alpes-Maritimes change colour quite so violently in so few kilometres.
Do not expect a beach. The water up here is snowmelt and spring water, mountain streams that run clear and icy over grey rock. On a hot afternoon a quick plunge of your hands and face is enough to reset you, and in calm spots a brave rider can sit in a pool for half a minute. Choose slack water away from the stream bed after storms, when levels rise quickly.
The nature is pure Mercantour edge. Chamois graze on the high slopes, marmots whistle from the boulder fields in summer, and larch forests turn gold in October. Sheep are moved up here in summer, so expect flocks and guard dogs on the road, and give both room.
Practicalities matter. Fuel is thin on the ground, so fill up in the valleys before climbing and do not count on the small villages. Beuil and Valberg have cafés and some shops in season. Roads above about 1,500 metres can be shut by snow from late autumn into spring, and evening storms in summer are common. Leave early, ride down slowly.
- Food stop near Seillans
food
Seillans clings to a hillside above the plain of Fayence, a perched village of ochre houses, narrow lanes and fountains, with a castle and a church at the top. It is one of the officially recognised most beautiful villages of France, and it has attracted artists for generations; the surrealist painter Max Ernst spent his last years here, and a small collection of his work can be seen in the village.
The view from the top of the village is magnificent, stretching over the plain towards the Lac de Saint-Cassien and the Esterel hills, with the Mediterranean shimmering beyond on clear days. Behind the village, the land rises towards the high plateaus of the Var, wild and empty, much of it used as a military training area.
The riding around Seillans is excellent. The roads that link the perched villages of the Pays de Fayence, Seillans, Fayence, Montauroux and others, are narrow and winding, with tight hairpins and great views. To the north, the roads climb towards Mons and the high plateaus, and eventually to the Gorges du Verdon, one of the great rides of Provence. The surfaces are generally good, but summer brings tourist traffic, and the heat can be intense. Watch for gravel on the corners and for cyclists on the climbs.
Seillans has a few cafés and restaurants, while fuel and supermarkets are found in Fayence and the plain below. A lunch on a village terrace, with a view over the plain, is a classic Provençal experience. After this stop the ride heads north-east towards the Col de Turini and the Mercantour, through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the south of France.
- Théoule-sur-Mer
pass
Théoule-sur-Mer is a little town squeezed between the red rocks of the Esterel and the sea, and it looks like a painting from the early days of the French Riviera. The houses are pink and ochre, the harbour is small and crowded with boats, and the hills behind are covered with pines and cork oaks. A fortified château with round towers, dating from the fourteenth century and now used as the town hall, stands near the shore, and the old fishing quarter has narrow streets and small terraces. The population is only about thirteen hundred, though it swells in summer.
Just along the coast lies La Napoule, with a castle that was a ruin until 1918, when an American sculptor, Henry Clews, and his wife bought it and rebuilt it as a home and studio, filling it with his strange, brooding sculptures. It is now an arts foundation and open to visitors. Inland, the hills of the Tanneron are covered in mimosa trees, which flower bright yellow in January and February, and there is a mimosa route that runs through the forest in the depths of winter when the rest of Europe is grey.
At the end of the Corniche d'Or, the road changes character, passing from the wild Esterel into the busier coast of Cannes and Mandelieu. The final stretch is a sequence of bends and viewpoints, with small bays below where the water is clear enough to see the rocks on the bottom. Riders should be wary of tourists stepping out between parked cars, and the occasional scooter overtaking on the inside. Parking in summer is very difficult, so arrive early.
Théoule itself has a few shops, bakeries and cafés, but for fuel and larger stores, Mandelieu-la-Napoule, about four kilometres away, is the better bet. The beaches are small, rocky and lovely, and the sea is warm from July to September. The Esterel can burn in dry summers, so respect fire warnings and closures. The best time to be here is May or late September, when the weather is warm, the crowds are thin and the light on the red rocks is at its best. Order grilled sea bream, and watch the sun go down behind the headland.
- Near Saint-Laurent-du-Var
finish
Until 1860, the river at Saint-Laurent-du-Var marked an international frontier. On the west bank lay France; on the east bank lay the County of Nice, part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and travellers along the coast had to cross the wide, shifting bed of the Var to pass from one to the other. For centuries there was no proper bridge, and the village made its living from the men who carried travellers across on their backs or guided them through the shallows. When Nice became French, the border vanished, but the river is still the dividing line between the town and the city.
Today Saint-Laurent is a busy suburb on the west bank, facing Nice's airport across the river mouth. It has a marina, a long pebble beach, the large Cap 3000 shopping centre and a small old village up the hill with a church and narrow streets. It is not especially beautiful, but it is lively and practical, with plenty of cafés and restaurants along the seafront.
The Var itself is a wild Alpine river, prone to sudden floods, and its broad gravel bed is now partly a nature reserve, home to herons and other birds. Following it north, the road leads into the mountains, and the gorges of the Vésubie, the Tinée and the upper Var all branch off within an hour. This is the way you will have come down if you are finishing a ride from the Col de Turini or the Mercantour, perhaps tired and dusty after a day of hairpins.
Coming back to the coast at the end of the day, expect a sudden shift from empty mountain roads to the dense traffic of the Nice agglomeration, with roundabouts, scooters and impatient drivers. Take it slowly. There are fuel stations and food everywhere, and the beachfront is a fine place to end the day, with the sun setting behind the Esterel and planes landing over the bay. In summer, the evenings stay warm and the beaches are busy until late; in winter, the coast is mild and quiet, and the mountains behind are often white with snow.
- Cap-d'Ail
pass
Cap-d'Ail is the last French town before Monaco, and you can feel the principality pressing against it. The Basse Corniche winds in from Èze and Beaulieu between villas and pines, the rocks drop to clear water below, and then, almost without warning, you are among the towers of Fontvieille. Cap-d'Ail itself is quieter than its neighbour: a scatter of Belle Époque villas, gardens and newer apartments on the slopes above a small cape with coves and a little beach.
The best thing here is on foot. The sentier du littoral, the coastal path, runs around the cape from the Plage Mala, a tiny pebble cove under the cliffs, past old villas and gardens and along the rocks. Early in the morning or late in the day, with the sea glittering and the scent of pine and salt, it is one of the loveliest short walks on the Riviera. Park the bike, change your boots if you can, and give it an hour.
The riding around here is about choosing the right Corniche. The Basse Corniche along the coast is slow and congested, with lights, scooters, buses and Monaco commuters. The Moyenne Corniche higher up offers grander views, tunnels and smoother curves past Èze. The Grande Corniche, highest of all, follows the line of the Roman Via Julia Augusta and passes La Turbie, where the Trophy of Augustus, a huge Roman monument from the first century BC, still stands above Monaco. These rides head inland toward the Col de Turini and the Route Napoléon, so you will climb through La Turbie or Sospel and quickly leave the coast behind for gorges and hairpins.
Traffic is the main hazard. Weekday mornings and evenings fill the roads with workers driving into Monaco, summer adds tourist traffic and the Grand Prix weekend in May brings chaos. Be careful with the many speed cameras, and with sudden queues in the tunnels. The best time to ride the corniches is early on a weekday or in the evening light, outside July and August.
There are cafes, bakeries and restaurants in Cap-d'Ail, and the beach bars by the water are pleasant in summer. For fuel, Monaco and the larger towns along the coast are close. Whatever you plan, look up and back once as you climb out of town: the view of the cape and Monaco from the corniches above is one of the most striking pictures on the whole coast.
- Ospedaletti
pass
Palms, pastel houses and a bay that faces due south: Ospedaletti is the Riviera dei Fiori at its most relaxed, a small Ligurian town tucked between Sanremo and Bordighera with its feet in the sea and terraced hills behind it. The old coast railway has been moved inland into a tunnel, and its former line along the shore is now a cycle and walking path, so the seafront is quieter than you might expect on such a crowded coast.
The name comes from a hospice, an ospedaletto, that the Knights of Rhodes are said to have founded here for pilgrims and travellers in the Middle Ages, and the town later became a winter resort for wealthy northern Europeans who came for the mild climate. For anyone with petrol in the blood, though, Ospedaletti means racing. In the years after the Second World War, the streets of the town formed a road circuit that hosted car Grands Prix and motorcycle races, a fast, dangerous loop through the villas and along the corniche above the sea. Ride the Corso Regina Margherita and you are on part of the old course.
The Via Aurelia, the old Roman road along the coast, runs through the town and is the main way in, slow and often congested in summer, with buses, scooters and cyclists. The more interesting riding lies in the hills: narrow roads climb steeply through olive groves and greenhouses to villages like Seborga, a tiny hilltop village that half-jokingly calls itself an independent principality, and Vallebona, with its flower terraces. These lanes are tight, sometimes broken, and very steep in places, with superb views back over the sea.
The rides from here head west and north into France, toward the Mercantour and the Col de Turini, through Ventimiglia and up the Roya valley or over to Sospel. It is a quick change of scene: within an hour the palms and flowers give way to gorges, chestnut woods and hairpins climbing toward the high Alps. Plan the crossing for early morning, before the coast traffic builds up.
Ospedaletti has cafes, bars and seafront restaurants, and Ligurian food is a pleasure: focaccia, farinata made from chickpea flour, pesto and local olive oil from the Taggiasca olives grown in the hills. The beach is pebbly and the water clear, so a swim at the end of the ride is easy in summer. For fuel and a wider choice of shops, Bordighera and Sanremo are each a few minutes along the coast.
- Back to Col de
finish
Sospel sits in a deep, green valley of the Bévéra river, in the hills behind Menton, and it is one of those Provençal towns that has been quietly pretty for centuries without making a fuss about it. A fortified bridge with a toll tower, dating from the eleventh century, crosses the river, and the old centre has arcaded houses painted in faded ochre and rose. It is a market town of about three thousand people, with several good bakeries and a calm, small-town rhythm, and the sea is only about twenty kilometres away.
Just beyond the border, in Italy, Airole is a tiny village in the Roya valley, and the whole area is a patchwork of languages and histories. The region was part of the County of Nice and the Kingdom of Sardinia until 1860, and later the border zone was heavily fortified. Near Sospel, you can visit forts of the Maginot Line, built in the 1930s to guard the Alpine frontier, and some are open to visitors. Menton, on the coast, is known for its lemons and the lemon festival held each February.
The ride's great moment is the Col de Turini, at 1,607 metres, a pass of dense forest and tight hairpins that has become legendary among rally fans. The Monte Carlo Rally has used it for decades, and the night stage, with crowds around bonfires and headlights flashing through the trees, is known as the Night of the Turini. For riders, the road is thrilling, with a good surface, steep drops and tight bends, and it is rewarding at an unhurried pace. Further north, the Mercantour National Park, created in 1979, protects a wild landscape of high peaks, lakes and valleys, and it is home to ibex, chamois and a small population of wolves. The Col de la Bonette, one of the highest paved roads in Europe, reaches 2,715 metres and is only open in summer.
From Sospel, the roads fan out in all directions. The Col de Braus and the Col de Castillon are lovely climbs, with a series of tight bends and fine views, and they are much quieter than the coastal motorway. In summer, mornings are the best time, before the heat and the traffic.
Fuel is easy in Sospel, and cafes serve local specialities like pissaladière and socca. Weather can change fast, and snow closes the high passes from about November to May.