Bad Reichenhall → Lyon, 50 Passes, 9 Days

The group start is at 7 am at the Geismühle West service area on the A57. Every 220 kilometres the group makes a stop where you can join in. Anyone who prefers rides individually straight to the intermediate hotel in Bad Reichenhall, where the first night is spent.

Eight passes in one day, led by the Grossglockner High Alpine Road as the first great high point of the whole run. The smaller crossings in Friuli hold their own too, with tight bends and wide views across the Alps. The night is spent at the Hotel Parc Victoria in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Over the Passo di Giau you reach the Sella loop, ridden counterclockwise over the Pordoijoch, Campolongo, Grödner Joch and Sellajoch. The way continues over the Karer and Mendel passes to the notorious Stelvio with its 48 switchbacks, before the day ends at the Hotel Intermonti in Livigno.

After a duty-free fuel stop in Livigno the stage runs over the Passo del San Bernardino and seven further passes to Andermatt. Eight major crossings in one day, with tight hairpins and wide views over the Swiss mountains in between. The night is spent at the Motel Gottardo Sud Piotta.

Long stretches with no motorway lead right across Switzerland into France. Along the way the St. Gotthard is taken over the historic Tremola road, the old cobbled climb rather than the modern alignment. The night is spent at the Hotel ibis in Sallanches.

Over the Col de la Madeleine you reach the Col du Galibier, one of the ten highest Alpine passes on the whole run. Nine further crossings follow, six of them part of the Route des Grandes Alpes. The night is spent at the Hotel La Lauzetane in Le Lauzet-Ubaye.

The Col de la Bonette, the highest paved pass in the Alps, is the high point of the day, and the Grand Canyon du Verdon follows it. Seven further passes and the Gorges de Daluis round the stage off before the night at the Hotel le Sud in Manosque.

First through the Drôme, then through the Vercors with the Col de Rousset and the Cirque de Combe Laval. To cover the remaining distance, a stretch of motorway then brings the group to the last intermediate hotel in Lyon.

To finish, the group heads back to Krefeld together or individually, or straight home – with more than 50 Alpine passes ridden and nine days across five countries behind it, from Bavaria to the gorges of Provence.