We continue our cycling tour on the roads of the Tour of the Aosta Valley. After visiting Father Pascal, Let's discover the third stage, another wild pearl of this edition of the under 23 race. This time we will take you to discover the Valpelline and Bionaz.
The Giro della Valle d'Aosta has always touched on beautiful locations, but many, such as Cervinia, are already well-known. Other destinations, however, are true gems waiting to be discovered. The stage in question was 138 kilometers long and ran from Saint Vincent to Place Moulin, arriving right at the Bionaz dam. The Norwegian won that day Jotta.
Between wine and “seupa”
This is perhaps the Aosta Valley par excellence. We start from the city center and compared to the other side valleys of the Aosta Valley, the Valpelline is very wide, at least at the beginning. From the city the climb is gentle, not to mention that for a few kilometers there is no climb at all: a bit of flat land in the Aosta Valley!
The “traffic” of the capital is soon left behind. The houses with gardens and many with nearby vegetable gardens are perhaps the aspects that struck us most. And some vineyards too.
Speaking of vineyards, they have been an important presence in the first half of the Saint Vincent-Bionaz area. It is from here, in fact, that fine wines such as the Clairet and Grosjean winery.
The road climbs wide and slowly up to Valpelline. Here there is a well-known festival at the end of the month (July 29th-30th) and it is the festival of the “Seupa di Valpelline”. It's a kind of "soup," a flan, from the peasant tradition. They say it's a delicacy. But given its somewhat light ingredients, it's best eaten on the way home!
Up to the dam
Beyond Valpelline the road begins to climb. And when it climbs, it does so decisively, but overall theThe climb towards Bionaz, in total just over 30 kilometres up to the Place Moulins dam, is in “steps”: A 2-3 kilometer ramp, followed by a couple of kilometers of flattening. Ultimately, it's a perfect climb for cycle tourists: it's challenging, so it leaves you with a sense of achievement, but it's not impossible.
At first, the vegetation is varied, then the larches appear, which in autumn give the Valpelline valley its sublime colors, and then the fir trees. The only drawback, if it's very hot, is that heading north you'll almost always have the sun on your back. There's no shortage of fountains, though.
And then in Bionaz, the largest village in Valpelline, as well as home to an important cross-country and biathlon centre, There are numerous roadside eateries where you can enjoy a refreshing break.
After leaving Bionaz, the road narrows a bit. There are more pastures, more rocks along the roadside, and the landscape becomes high mountainous. Hush, hush, we are above 1.600 metres above sea level and the road ends at the 2.000 metre mark (1.979) of the dam.
Even more up
At that point, If you have a gravel bike you can continue pedaling along the banks of Lake Place Moulins.
The road, popular with hikers, is gentle but undulating and leads to the Prarayer refuge. It's a dirt road that can also be done on the Specialissima, but it's not ideal.
The length of this gravel segment is 4,4 kilometers. The scenery, however, is superb: the turquoise waters of the lake, the white of the glacier Dent d'Hérens, an over 4.000 metres, The foaming waterfalls that plunge into the lake separate this valley from Cervinia. Once you reach the refuge, the road ends. From there, the kingdom of the chamois begins.
This, especially since it is very close to Aosta, was perhaps the biggest surprise of this edition of the Giro della Valle d'Aosta. It seems incredible that such a beautiful valley is so relatively unknown. A perfect itinerary, therefore, to be discovered slowly.
