Excuse my snarky title, but I believe many cyclo-tourists do themselves a huge disservice by prioritising Alpe d’Huez above many far, far more interesting roads. So in an effort to convince people to consider cycling somewhere else —– here is my list of 100 better options.

EDIT October 2018: I have added several additional climbs since this post was first published in 2016. In particular, I’ve added quite a few Austrian climbs.

Criteria:

Only paved roads. Only roads that I have cycled – ie. My list only has French, Swiss, Italian, and Austrian mountains. A summit counts only once. Although clearly, for example, all three sides of Stelvio, both sides of Gavia, at least two sides of Ventoux, etc. are much more fun than Alpe d’Huez. So this list is really far more than 100 climbs. For me a good climb is a combination of challenging, high, quiet, and beautiful (eg. mountains, hairpins, cliffs, alpine lakes, etc).

Alpe d’Huez is of course still interesting. See this link for more (and sometimes better) rides in the area: Beyond Alpe d’Huez: The Best Cycling Climbs from Bourg d’Oisans.

Feel free to disagree with some climbs on my list, but yes, I excluded a bunch of other roads that should have, at least arguably, made the cut. For maps, photos and trip reports for any of the below climbs, click on the links below or put the name into the search bar at top right of page.

100 Climbs Better than Alpe d’Huez

EDIT: OK, after adding a few climbs I have reached more than 100 climbs better than Alpe d’Huez.

#101 Finally! Alpe d’Huez (and above)

Lac Besson – A few kilometres above Alpe d’Huez. Because if you are going to climb Alpe d’Huez, don’t stop at the town, keep going to the end of the paved road.

(and whatever you do, don’t stop at the line painted on the road at the entrance of town, by the restaurants and Trek store like 75% of tourists. At least struggle through town to the official Tour de France finish – it’s signed).

Once I have put a little more thought into this list, I will likely rename it: My 100 Favourite Road Bike Climbs.

Note, this is by no means a complete list of climbs in the Alps. See here for a fairly comlete list of climbs that I have cycled.

AS ALWAYS, I AM GRATEFUL FOR SUGGESTIONS OF GREAT CLIMBS MISSING FROM THIS LIST.