Day 3: Monday, July 19
Séez to Aussois
94 km, 59 mi, 8,000 ft vertical

Peter, Mai and Ted leaving Val d’Isère.

The road leads to Col de l’Iseran (9,088 ft / 2,770 m) the highest paved pass in the French alps.

It’s a long steady climb climb up a valley and then continuing up along the ridge on the other side.

Peter and Ted pushed ahead. Timothy, Mai and Rich stuck together.

The road winds its way inexorably up.

For Mai it proved a good lesson in pacing. Rich held to a steady tempo.

Looking down on Val d’Isère. Hard to believe that not long ago you were all the way down there.

Ahead a large bulk of mountain remains to be climbed..

Across the valley, jagged peaks.

Views like this make the climbing more than worth while.