Cycling Croix de Coeur and Col du Lein, Switzerland: little-known stars of the Valais

For this trip, we were guests of Verbier and Val de Bagnes, with guiding from Adam at Haut Velo. They are keen for cyclists to know about their region.

Highlights

• Quiet roads on the serene Col du Lein; a taste of what Switzerland might have been like a hundred years ago.
• Jaw-dropping views as you crest the 2,000+ metre Croix de Coeur, surrounded by jagged mountains, and spot Verbier 8 kilometres beneath you.
• We also loved the lower valley section through the vineyards and fruit trees of the Rhone Valley. The road is barely one car wide and you cruise through vineyards and fruit trees; it’s supremely pretty.

Notes

Verbier and the valley

You descend the smooth, if busy, switchbacks from Verbier and spend a short two kilometres or so on the valley road, before turning off for the Col du Lein.

Col du Lein

Statistics

From Vollèges, RWGPS shows us an 11.4 kilometre climb, with 6.4% average gradient (17% max).

Climb

You climb up from the village of Vollèges through pretty pastures with wildflowers, grazing cows and patches of woodland. After the village of Levron, the road narrows and turns into a gravel road for a kilometre or more as you reach the summit.

There’s a junction here and a signpost for the Col du Lein summit to your left. That’s the road over from the Col des Planches and Col du Tronc.

The highest point is in fact still a few metres ahead of you; bear right at the junction and you’ll come to the gravelly summit point. When we were there it was complete with a herd of goats!

Just before the summit you’ll see a turn off to the Buvette du Lein. It’s a little café with what I assume is a cow farm attached (the smell suggested this was the case and the cow bells were deafening!). It serves basic but delicious-looking cheese and cured meat as well as basic meals. We sampled the homemade cake; it was suitably chocolatey and calorific.

Descent

From the summit, you descend on a gravel road for a short way (perhaps 500 metres or a kilometre) before you hit the made-up road that takes you through the forest, with glimpses of the valley below. The asphalt here hadn’t yet been renewed when we rode it, so it was a little cracked in places. Watch out for debris too; this is not a busy road that gets swept regularly. It’s also pretty narrow so take your time.

The first couple of kilometres of descent are fast and not overly switchbacked, but as you get lower, the switchbacks kick in. They’re quite tight around Luy and further on the narrow road hugs a cliff face and then sends you through a short tunnel. As you get lower, you leave the forest and start to get some great views over the valley.

You ride through a few villages and lots of vineyards, so be prepared to contend with a few more cars as you leave the wilderness of the mountain top.

Saxon and Rhone Valley

In Saxon, near the bottom of the descent, we turned right and took a tiny road that weaved through the vineyards, apricot orchards and fruit farms. The route then hits the Rhone River which you follow for around eight kilometres to the bottom of the Col de Croix de Coeur.

Barring the odd very short ramp up, these 12 kilometres between Saxon and and Aproz are a good opportunity to rest your legs a little for the big climb ahead.

Lac de Derborence (optional)

It’s worth mentioning here, that if you’re feeling very strong, Aproz would be the moment to add some extra distance and climbing to your legs and head off to Lac de Derborence. More on that here and here are a few photos to tempt you!

Assuming you don’t ride Derborance on this ride (and it’s not within the GPS file above – you need to read this article to find the Derborance GPS file), it’s time to hit the Croix de Coeur…

Col de la Croix de Coeur from Aproz via La Tzoumaz

Statistics

From Aproz, RWGPS shows us a 27.3 kilometre climb, with 5.2% average gradient (15% max) – but bear in mind this does include the flat/downhill sections mid climb. It will definitely feel harder than a 5% climb!

Aproz to La Tzoumaz

The initial slopes are on a main road passing through villages and with far-reaching views for good long section. There are also tunnels to contend with and a steady 8-8.5%. It’s not a quiet road, as this is the main road up to villages above the valley.

You turn on to a smaller road after Fey, and this takes you up to Les Condémines, with amazing views down to the valley. There’s then a short section of respite on a two kilometre stretch around the charming Isérables, when gradients ease off a little and you even get the odd section of downhill.

You turn on to a more main road that sees the gradients kick up again, and a tunnel, as you head up to La Tzoumaz through forest. La Tzoumaz is a small place with a ski lift. It was pretty quiet when we were there!

La Tzoumaz to the summit

Once you leave La Tzoumaz, you hurtle into nature, with lots of streams and a very remote, magical feeling… but also tough as the surface is not the efficient Swiss smooth standard you may have got used to. There’s also the high altitude and earlier efforts start to hurt the legs!

The first section after La Tzoumaz is through forest, but the most spectacular section awaits at the top, where pastures and stationary ski lifts lead you to the summit.

Awaiting you at the top are some of the most spectacular views in the area. Looking across Verbier village, you can see across the Val de Bagnes to the glaciers and 4,000m peaks of the Combin mountain range!

Descent to Verbier

Take time to have a drink at the restaurant and soak up the views before a nice, but technical descent, on the narrow ribbon of asphalt that takes you eight kilometres back down the mountain and into the “real world” again in Verbier.

Cafés

As ever, you’ll find the most options for food and drink in the valleys, so make the most of these opportunities!

For a real sense of Swiss culture, don’t miss the Buvette du Lein described above, at the top of the Col du Lein.

We stopped at a small roadside café just after Fey for a quick espresso.

Once you leave the small ski resort of La Tzoumaz there’s nothing until the summit of the Croix de Coeur, so make sure you’re well hydrated and fuelled!

If you fancy a post ride pick me up, Le Carrefour on the outskirts of Verbier, is a popular choice.

Accommodation

We stayed at the Hotel Bristol in Verbier. You can find out more about our stay in our main guide to cycling Verbier and Val de Bagnes.

There are also plenty of other hotels in Verbier to choose from.

Tips

General tips

Make sure you read the tips in our Verbier cycling guide. These all apply to this ride.

Also note the tips scattered throughout this article, above.

Col du Lein climb

Note that this is a south-facing climb and much is not forested, which means you are in the sun quite a long time so take particular care to hydrate properly and wear sun protection.

Gravel sections

The road surfaces on the higher sections of this ride are far from smooth, and in places are definitely gravel, so do take care.

RWGPS notes there are around five kilometres of gravel on Col du Lein; we found them fine on a road bike, but surfaces vary with time so if you’re on a road bike, do take particular care descending the gravel section of the descent on the Col du Lein.

Which side to climb Col de la Croix de Coeur from?

This is a big, tough climb from whichever side you take it.

The Verbier side has a little more profile, due to it being the way the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia climbed it (and you could do this climb on this ride). If you’re less keen on descending, riding this route in the opposite direction to what we show may also be an advantage as the descents are slightly gentler.

However, that said, descending the section from the summit to La Tzoumaz would need a lot of care as the road is rough and full of turns. Also, climbing the La Tzoumaz side, as described in this article, might be more pleasant as it enjoys quieter, more peaceful roads.

It’s your call!

Looking for more stunning cycling routes in Switzerland’s Valais?

Don’t miss these:

• Planches, Petit Forclaz, Champex Lac
• La Fouly
• Lac de Derborence
• Mauvoisin Dam
• Switzerland’s best cycling routes

Clare Dewey is a cyclist with a passion for travel. She set up epicroadrides.com in 2018 to help make it easy for cyclists to explore the world by bike. Today her mission is still inspiring cyclists to discover new places on two wheels - and doing what she can to make sure they have the best possible time while they're there. Clare has visited 50+ destinations around the world, many of them by bike.