Col de la Croix de Fer & Col du Glandon

About this drive

The D926 climb over the Col de la Croix de Fer and the Col du Glandon in the Savoie Alps is the combination favoured by Tour de France route planners when they want a long and punishing mountain day. The two cols are linked by a short descent between them, giving an almost continuous ascent of 30 kilometres from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne at the bottom to the Croix de Fer at 2,067 metres. The road climbs through the Maurienne valley and up through a series of hairpins on the western side of the Aiguilles d'Arves — a triple-peaked rock formation that becomes the dominant visual reference for the upper part of the climb. The summit of the Croix de Fer is named for a large iron cross erected there in the eighteenth century and still standing. The descent from the Glandon to Bourg-d'Oisans drops 1,500 metres into the valley that also serves as the gateway to L'Alpe d'Huez. Both cols are closed by snow from roughly October through May. Summer weekends bring a steady stream of cyclists up the hairpins — the Tour de France fan culture that has attached itself to these passes means cyclists from across Europe make the trip. The road is open to all vehicles but patience with the pace of cycling groups is required.