Posted on 20 June 2022 Reading time: 4 min
Le Beaufortain is a magnificent playground for Gravel with a full range of surfaces: small roads with little traffic, beautiful climbs on alpine tracks, rolling mountain bike trails and exhilarating descents. A little paradise for a boom practice.
Our partner Origin Cycles
Since its creation about ten years ago, the French bicycle brand has been growing rapidly and digging the furrow of a well-established philosophy: to produce top-of-the-range bicycles with the major objective of meeting the desires for adventure of everyone. The Origin range offers cross country mountain biking, road bikes and of course Gravel, a growing segment.
The Graxx, its flagship gravel model, was also voted winner of the Top Vélo Awards Gravel 2021. It is the ultimate versatility. At ease on the road as well as on the trails, this gravel bike filters out irregularities in an exceptional way and its ultra-technological carbon frame gives it performance that has nothing to envy to many road models. Origine Cycles supports Arêches-Beaufort in the development of the practice of gravel in Beaufortain and will offer entertainment throughout the summer. The opportunity to discover and test its latest models.
Yoann Sert, a gravel ambassador in Team Arêches-Beaufort
"The Gravel is a bit of a return to the basics of cycling before mountain bikes existed, it's the all-purpose bike par excellence, it's also an excellent companion for travelling. »
At the beginning of June, Yoann qualified for the next and first edition of the Gravel World Championships by finishing 16nd of the Millau stage. "The Gravel being a new discipline, it will allow me to run and confront myself with internationally renowned athletes, we announce for the final champions like Peter Sagan or even perhaps Mathieu Van Der Poel... it's enormous power start the race alongside them! »
Why do Gravel in the Beaufortain?
“The Beaufortain is well suited to Gravel as it is a dynamic agricultural area and there are many tracks leading to mountain pastures which are ideal for gravel practice… There are also roads deteriorated by winter where it is more comfortable to ride a Gravel bike than on a road bike and thus not worry about potholes, gravel…”
Any advice on Gravel circuits around Arêches-Beaufort?
“To begin, a discovery circuit would be to leave from Arêches then climb to Lac de St Guérin and ride on the banks of the lake before continuing the ascent towards Cormet d'Arêches via the Lac des Fées. A nice climb up to 2m all the same!
Another option, still departing from Arêches towards Saint Guérin, is to take the Cret Gérel track to reach the Col du Pré. Then, we switch to Roselend following the Treicol track. We then go around the lake of Roselend. You can then descend directly to Beaufort to make a loop. »
For an easier route to start, we advise you to climb to Plan Villard from Le Planay or Beaufort for the bravest. Other tracks allow you to reach the summits, in particular towards the Pointe de la Grande Combe or the Col de Forclaz, but the slope is sometimes steep!
2 Gravel events this summer
Gravel hikes and aperitifs, Wednesdays July 20 and August 17
Go on the mountain pastures from Beaufort on an untimed route, in gravel or mountain biking on a wild loop of 25 km for 800 m of altitude difference. The efforts will not be in vain! Splendid view and aperitif served up there as a reward.
You start on a paved road to leave Beaufort, very quickly the laces and the slope announce the color to you: you are not on a quiet course but a mountain course on 12 hairpins, before reaching a stony forest track. The effort will always be sustained up to an altitude of around 1600m. The slope then softens over the last kilometers with the added bonus of 2 rewards: the magnificent view and the aperitif which awaits you at an altitude of 1 m on the Plan Villard pasture to enjoy a sunset over the Mont Blanc! All you have to do is slide over Arêches for a descent to Beaufort before dark.
Information and reservations: https://www.areches-beaufort.com/evenement/les-randos-gravel-origine-cycles/
