Saint Claude Loop - long climbs, quiet roads and a giant pipe

A big day out in the Jura is on the cards if you take on this loop out to Saint Claude, Longchaumois, Les Rousses and Saint Cergue. And you’re guaranteed some of the very best the Jura has to offer, with its fabulous blend of quiet roads, beautiful shaded climbs, and a few nasty ramps to test how many swear words you know.

The ride starts in Geneva and heads in a straight line up to Gex where we start our first climb of the day. The Col de la Faucille is well known among Geneva cyclists, especially those who live on the Rive Droite and it is a perfect climb to start this ride. 11.4km long at 6.4% average means it can be tempting to go hard on this one, with the excitement of a new ride and fresh legs. But try to reign in your enthusiasm and enjoy the beautiful views back towards Geneva and the Alps.

The hardest stretch comes just as the fountain hairpin arrives with around 4km still to go. Here the gradient increases to above 8% which can be a bit of a shock after the first 7km of the climb.

But you’ll soon be at the col sign where you can take on some food ready for the descent to Mijoux into the depths of the Jura.

The road runs along the back of the Jura ridge for a short distance before you take the fork to the left which leads down into the valley and the small ski village of Mijoux.

Here the route heads straight back up again, on a short (4km) climb up to Lajoux. This is a nice steady climb to warm up the legs again, with a few lovely hairpin bends which lead you to a plateau and the start of the descent to Saint Claude.

This is one of my absolute favourite descents. Never too steep and feels like it goes on forever. Your destination at the bottom is the town of Saint Claude which was the world capital of hand-crafted wooden smoking pipes from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century. Don’t miss the world’s largest pipe (7.5 meters long and 8.7 meters high, weighing 600 kg) in the middle of town when you pass through.

From Saint Claude the route now heads north-east and gently climbs (apart from the very steep section just as you leave town which hits up to 14%!) up taking you towards Longchaumois. This climb has some lovely hairpins and is well shaded which is handy as by now the sun is likely high in the sky.

Once through Longchaumois you have about 20km of flat and down and only one real big climb to go.

This is the 2 stage climb up to Prémanon and then on over the Swiss border at La Cure to Col de la Givrine. Never too steep, which is welcome as by now you’re almost 100km into the ride.

The road from La Cure to Saint Cergue runs beside the mountain railway (so if you’re really struggling you can jump on the train here which connects into the Swiss railway network!).

But try to keep going as once you’re over the col it is the most wonderful descent back towards Lac Leman. The last 40km of the ride are pretty much all downhill or flat.

The route runs from Gingins at the foot of the Saint Cergue climb cross country, detouring back into France at Divonne-les-Bains, passing through Grilly and turning back down to Geneva at Versonnex.

When you make it to the end, congratulate yourself on having ridden some of the best roads in the region over 150km. You’ve also climbed well over 2,700m.

And on top of all that you’ve been in the presence of the world’s largest pipe.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it …

Tour du Salève

Medieval Yvoire