The Côte d'Azur is one of the most beautiful stretches of the Mediterranean. It stretches from Marseille to the Italian Riviera. Behind the sun-drenched, glamorous coastline, a charming France with mountains, pretty villages and the spectacular Verdon Gorge is revealed. As there are no cycle tour operators, the region remains a place for individualists.
The Côte d'Azur owes its name to the poet Stéphen Liégeard, who enthused about the azure waters off the coast in 1887. For French cyclists, it is an alternative to Mallorca. With one decisive difference: because there are almost no cycling tour operators, you have to organise your training camp individually. If you're not afraid of this, you should pack some form as well as sun cream. Even tours that start right by the sea are usually challenging and lead over hills and mountains. However, it is quiet there - which is soothing compared to the hustle and bustle on the coast. Many of the roads are newly tarmaced, partly because the Tour de France was here, only some of the less travelled sections are a little bumpier. The climbs are moderate, almost exclusively in the single-digit percentage range. Nevertheless, if you're in good shape early on, you can gain more than 2,000 metres in altitude on a hundred-kilometre loop. It is not for nothing that the hinterland of Nice is regarded by professionals as one of the top training areas. In the western part of the Côte d'Azur, between Toulon and Fréjus, it is quieter than around Nice. There, in the Département du Var, the Massif des Maures rises up behind the legendary coastal town of Saint-Tropez, its wooded hills reaching up to an altitude of almost 800 metres. A little further north, in the Haut Var, around the spectacular Grand Canyon du Verdon, the 1,000 metre mark is cracked - often too early in March to go for a short ride. In addition to the landscape, the region's special charm is also due to picture-book villages and towns such as Cotignac, Tourtour, Seillans and Collobrières.
Mountains or sea? The Côte d'Azur blends both into a symphony of the senses: landscapes full of colours and scents, routes with wonderful views and plenty of culinary delights. Sounds great? It is! - Joscha Weber, TOUR travel author
Info about the Côte d'Azure
Start of the season: March at the earliest, better from April. The only thing that can spoil it is the mistral, which occurs most frequently in February, a gale-force wind from the north-west that suddenly drops temperatures by up to ten degrees.
Temperatures: 12 degrees (March), 15 degrees (April) are average maximum temperatures on the coast, in the mountains the temperatures are often still in single figures.
JourneyDirect flights, e.g. from Frankfurt/Main, in one and a half hours to Marseille or Nice from 300 euros (return, without bike transport). By car, it is around 1,000 kilometres from Frankfurt to Nice, by train you can be there in twelve and a half hours if you take your bike with you.
Topography: Hilly to mountainous.
Locations: Nice, Tourrettes-sur-Loup (in the hinterland), Moissac-Bellevue (south of the Verdon Gorge), Bormes-les-Mimosas (near the Côte d'Azur), Collobrières (Massif des Maures), Saint-Raphaël (coast near Fréjus).
Weekly rate for hotel and guided tours: Apart from CoolTourCycling (nine-day training camp for around €1,800 including coach travel) and Quäldich (hotel, seven guided tours from €1,425), we couldn't find any German-speaking organisers.
Bike hire: Six-day bike hire costs from around 220 euros (aluminium frame with Shimano 105 groupset at francebikerentals.com), top racers up to 460 euros (Café du Cycliste in Nice: Cervélo R5/Caledonia 5 Disc Ultegra Di2). Cycles Evasion (in Cogolin, south of the Massif des Maures) rents out the finest Giant and BMC models.
5 more destinations for your road bike training camp in spring
Plus points: That speaks in favour of a road bike training camp on the Côte d'Azur
- Travelling by car and train also makes sense
- Direct flights from several German cities
- magnificent landscapes: coast, hills, Verdon Gorge, Maritime Alps
- Small roads in the hinterland with little traffic
Minus points: That speaks against it
- Traffic on coastal roads
- Few flat stretches for basic training
- Not a handful of organisers who offer all-inclusive packages
