Rhone Valley - MTB

The Tour de France is cycling’s Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, and Hahnenkamm wrapped in one three-week-long bundle. For just under a century, the world’s best cyclists have done their best to survive the ultimate test of their endurance, and this year, the Tour comes right through our hometown of Verbier. The circus will spend three days in the region, including two of the toughest climbs of the entire tour.

To accommodate all of our cycling clients this special week, we have available road biking, mountain biking, or combo adventures set up. Basing in one of our luxury chalets, you’ll ride the best trails or ribbons of asphalt, or both, before and after the Tour’s arrival, and have a ringside seat to the main event. With a mountaintop finish right in the Village on the 19th, you’ll watch the best climbers prove their mettle up the 19 switchbacks up to Verbier. Then, two days later, the riders will depart Martigny and head up the historic route to the Grand St. Bernard Col.

We’ll also organize private massage and/or yoga sessions, a special vineyard tour and wine tasting, and all the hospitality that makes the southwest corner of Switzerland so appealing.

Package for 6 people includes:

• Airport and hotel transfers
• 7 nights luxury Chalet Verbier
• 1 night Grand Hotel du Lac Vevey
• VIP TDF "Experience"
• Bike guide, all days
• Van transfers/Shuttles
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner all days
• Local wine and drinks with meals
• Wine Tasting in UNESCO vineyard
• 60 min sports massage pp
• Emergency Helicopter Evacuation Insurance

Day 1 (Saturday 18 July): Arrive in Geneva, private van transfer along the shore of lac Leman to Verbier, where you’ll check into your chalet and unpack bikes and gear. Or, if you’re demoing a new bike, get fitted for your new ride for the week. Dinner in the chalet.

Day 2 (Sunday 19 July): The tour will have its’ longest stage today, finishing right in our backyard. We’ll either get a quick road ride in up the Val de Bagnes or do some downhill mountain bike laps under the Verbier gondola, before setting up in a prime location for the big event. BBQ dinner at the chalet.

Day 3 (Monday 20 July): It’s a rest day for the Tour, but we’ll be getting a full day of riding in. A road ride to Martigny over two mountain cols will bring you back to Verbier, where you can either recreate the previous day’s finish up the 19-switchback road, or opt for a ride up in the gondola. Possible private meeting with the Scott / Columbia / Highroad team. Dinner in Le Châble.

Day 4 (Tuesday 21 July): The biggest mountain stage of the tour goes down today, as  the Peleton heads up and over the Grand St. Bernard col. We’ll get an early start to beat the crowds, and get set up near the historic 1000 year-old monastery for the highest climb of the entire tour. After the race goes through, we’ll descend into Italy on mountain bikes to beat the traffic, and have dinner on an Italian farm, before coming back to Verbier via the St. Bernard Tunnel.

Day 5 (Wednesday 22 July): Now that the Tour’s back in France, we’ll get down to serious riding, heading up to the col at Champex-Lac, then up the Val Ferret for a lunch in a remote Swiss valley, bordering Italy. Then working our way back toward Verbier, we’ll meander through gorgeous mid-mountain farm villages. Afternoon massage, dinner in Verbier.

Day 6 (Thursday 23 July): Today we’ll go international with a ride over two cols to Chamonix, France. The Col de Forclaz and the Col de Montets wind through the vineyards of Martigny, then the alpine towns of Trient and Vallorcine, then descend into the Chamonix Valley with a view of Mont Blanc the whole way. Dinner in Chamonix, before a van transfer back to Verbier.

Day 7 (Friday 24 July): Down to the Rhône Valley, we’ll ride to several alpine villages above the vineyards on the sunny northern side of the river. Lunch in Saillon, a medieval village with a commanding view of the Rhône, and a private wine tasting in a local Caveau des Vignerons. Dinner in Verbier.

Day 8 (Saturday 25 July): We’ll pack up and check out of the chalet, then ride to the world heritage Lavaux area along Lake Geneva, taking the quiet farm roads to the vineyards. A private dinner and wine tasting await in Lavaux, and a night in a local hotel before you depart Sunday morning. 

*Dependent on conditions, subject to change.