Switzerland, the promised land for cycling fanatics with a craving for mountains. I think that wherever you are in Switzerland, cycling will be absolutely fantastic. I ended up in Sion, which is located in the canton of Valais about 100 km. west on from Crevoladossola and I do not regret it. Here there are good cycle paths when you ride on the flat parts and when you ride uphill, the climbs are mostly threefold, starting with riding in the beautiful vineyards where it can be really hot, then you ride into some forest with nice shade and then you come out to the raw mountains. Switzerland is expensive, like really expensive, but wow, they have a lot to offer when it comes to cycling. If you are into dams, as I am, Valais can offer no less than 8. The 5 of them are at a reasonable distance from Sion. I drove up to 2 of them myself, Moiry dam and Tseuzier dam, some amazing trips. The trip to Moiry dam is quite demanding as you manage to drive 2000 hm. Before you have driven 40 km. and the last km. up to the dam itself rises by almost 12%, but remember to drive all the way down to the other end.
Moiry dam
Valais also boasts 19 legendary passes, of which only 5 - 6 are within cycling distance from Sion. I decided to drive up to the Col du Sanetsch, a good decision it turned out to be, because just as I was about to start the climb, someone shouted "what are you doing here", it was a club mate who happened to come cycling the opposite way, it was nice to meet someone you could speak Danish with and he also saved my trip, because I had forgotten my bottles, but then I just got his bottles, then I just had to find a water station and they are easy to find on the way up. Col du Sanetsch is a super climb that offers a bit of everything, almost at the top you have to go through a tunnel and when I was there, there was no light in it, so I had to take out my phone and use the flashlight function, I didn't need that experience. The Col de Crans-Montana was the second mountain I chose to drive up to. Driving up to the Col de Crans-Montana it is possible to do a loop, although it was a super nice ride, I think I would choose to do the loop, the opposite way, i.e. right, next time I'm here .
My routes:
Climbs:
Col du Sanetsch
Col de Crans-Montana
Moiry dam
Tseuzier dam
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