Gravel races in Valais

Gravel has found in Valais a playground that suits it perfectly: vineyard paths, alpine pasture tracks, forest roads and terraced hillsides 🌄. The Rhône serves as the common thread, with possible starts from Sion, Martigny or Sierre. A gravel race in Valais blends quiet asphalt with tracks where the landscape makes you lift your head, between orchards and glaciers. Bikes with wide handlebars and sturdy tires feel right at home here, far from the traffic of the major roads.

Rides adapt to the altitude. On the valley floor, farm tracks run alongside apricot orchards and are rideable from March 🌸. Higher up, the alpine pasture tracks clear from June onwards, with wider tires and a bit of patience. Autumn offers vivid colors, with golden larches and clear skies, and ideal temperatures for long rides. In summer, dawn starts avoid the heat of the valley floor and enjoy low-angled light on the ridges.

The gravel race calendar in Valais is still quite discreet. The Cyclosportive Des Portes du Soleil, in Champéry, offers a gravel format in June that alternates between forest tracks and sections over the alpine pastures, in the heart of the Franco-Swiss Portes du Soleil area. While waiting for other events to arrive, Valais gravel riders round out their season with the cyclosportives in Valais, or broaden their horizons with the gravel races in Switzerland. The valley's quiet secondary roads are well suited to exploratory loops of a few hours, a great way to get started without pressure 🚵.

The bisses, irrigation channels some of which date back to the Middle Ages, tell the story of water in Valais and shape the landscape of the hillsides. Local dishes, from raclette to alpine cheese, reward a day of riding 🧀. Choose your route, load up your bike and let Valais amaze you, from the valley floor to the alpine pastures. Valais villages, with their granaries on stilts, dot the routes and invite photo stops. To vary the terrain, the mountain races in Valais show the other side of the canton.