Climb Summary
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Wikipedia writes of Verbier (the town just below the finish of this climb):
“Verbier is a village located in south-western Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is a holiday resort and ski area in the Swiss Alps and is recognised as one of the premiere "off-piste" resorts in the world. Some areas are covered with snow all year. Many top skiers have settled in the Verbier area in order to take advantage of the steep slopes, varied conditions and resort culture.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbier
Will’s great European climbing website, Cycling-Challenge.com writes of this climb:
“Verbier Ski Resort has recently hosted a mountain top Tour de Suisse stage (2008), and after a decade of lobbying, a Tour de France stage (2009 won by Alberto Contador).
2009 Tour de France Bear The Flying Marmot
Contador and other wimps stop at Verbier. But slow, old guys (me) know that the climb only gets interesting higher up above Verbier.
The climb to Verbier from Le Chable is very scenic and full of great hairpins. But with snow expected in a day or two, there was a fair bit of traffic.” http://www.cycling-challenge.com/la-croix-de-couer/
Note: In carefully reviewing Will’s photos and Google Maps, this climb seems quite manageable on a road bike. A post in 2014 on Will’s site notes “MICHAEL on AUGUST 14, 2014 8:40 PM I did this climb today (with the boring extra km from Sembrancher, good to warm up with). It is asphalted all the way to the top. I mentioned it to a local who said that he thought it must have been paved last year.”
PJAMM will ride and document this climb in June, 2018. We have confirmed with several Strava members who have ridden this climb that it can be done on a road bike:
Matt Key John Johnson yes, it is indeed. Enjoy! [i.e., paved]
Christian Secco Yes, this ride was all on tarmac, it's for road bike. South side from Verbier it's all tarmac, north side become a gravel road from about 1800 meter of altitude as far as i know. Bye. ;)
Stéphane Felley Hello, there is asphalt from Verbier to la Croix de Coeur. In the other side there is no asphalt during the last 4.5km. It's not a problem to climb, but I don't advise to go down on this side
Aaron Gwilliam Yes easy to do on a road bike, some loose stones at the top but no problems.
Sylvain Garde - The Croix de Coeur I have done, the part above Verbier used to be à path (used in a famous mtb race), but I believe it has been tarmacked.
Valentin Baillifard The last kilometers are on a dirt road. Can be done by road bike
Arne Chevrolet Hello. The last 5 km are not paved. It's hard but it's possible with a road bike. At the top there is a cafe / restaurant. Have fun!
Sébastien Reichenbach John Johnson no pavement, dirt road it passes on road bike, but only in this sense according to me. (downhill on the Verbier side on bitumen)
The Tour de Suisse has included the climb to Verbier on several occasions, most recently in 2014 (as of 2017)
