France · Savoie / Hautes-Alpes · Premium route guide
Col du Galibier (via Télégraphe & Lautaret)
68 kilometres, three high cols in a row — Télégraphe, Galibier and Lautaret — topping out at 2,642 m. Full route on the map, a GPX for your GPS, and the motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted at either end.
- Distance
- 67.5 km
- Peak elevation
- 2,635 m
- Elevation gain
- 2,101 m
- Best months
- Jun–Sep
The route
From Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, climb the Télégraphe (1,566 m), drop briefly into Valloire, then the long haul up the Galibier to 2,642 m. Down the south side to the Lautaret junction and on to Briançon. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted.
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Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route — how to load this into your GPS
What you're downloading is a GPX track — a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It's not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zūmo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner → new trip from track) if you want turn-by-turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive — it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it doesn't re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour — Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these don't read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX-capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line — pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~714 m at the base to 2635 m at the top — 2,101 m of total climbing across the route.
Three cols back-to-back, all Tour de France legends, all rideable in an afternoon. The Télégraphe is the appetiser — 12 km of wooded hairpins that most riders under-rate. The Galibier is the main course. The Lautaret is the digestif and takes you into Briançon in time for dinner.
The road, honestly
The D902 over the Galibier is why people ride in France. It's high, empty above the treeline, and open in every direction — the view from the summit stretches to Mont Blanc on a clear morning. The surface is French-good (which is very good), and the traffic is 90% cyclists and 10% other bikes. Cars are rare above Valloire.
The bit most riders miss is the Télégraphe. It gets skipped because it's "in the way" of the Galibier, but it's a proper road in its own right — tight, technical, wooded, and completely different in character. Do it slow both ways.
Which end to base yourself at
Briançon (south) is the picks — a walled Vauban town at 1,326 m, plenty of rider-friendly accommodation, and it sets you up for the Izoard, Vars and Bonette the next day. Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (north) is smaller and puts you closer to the Iseran and Croix de Fer if you're linking a whole French Alps week.
Weather, closures and what to pack
The Galibier is one of the last passes to open each spring — often not until late May, sometimes early June — and the first to close in the autumn. If there's fresh snow forecast in September, plan an alternative. The Lautaret stays open longer and is the ski-season detour when the Galibier's shut.
Fuel: Saint-Michel and Briançon at either end, plus a station in Valloire. Nothing on the passes themselves.
What to see along the way
- Col du Télégraphe (1,566 m) — Small parking, a café, and the pass sign everyone photographs on the way up. Take five minutes.
- Plan Lachat — The last hairpin before the summit ramp. The Galibier's classic photo — a river of tarmac climbing a wall of scree.
- Col du Galibier (2,642 m) — Summit tunnel, plus a spur road that goes over the top for the last 100 m of climbing. Take the spur — the view is why you came.
- Col du Lautaret (2,058 m) — Big junction with the RN91. The garden here (Jardin Alpin) is worth a stop if you're not chasing daylight.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Col du Galibier (via Télégraphe & Lautaret)
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Briançon / Valloire — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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Rider-verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route — no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
- 20.1 km
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