Today’s objective was Brame-Farine, the long wooded mountain that rises almost 1,000 metres above the Grésivaudan and separates the main Isère valley from the smaller valley of Allevard.

A long, mostly Zone 2 ride today, in homage to Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset’s extraordinary breakaway across the Jura in yesterday’s Tour de France Femmes.

Very hard today, ok once I got onto the Coiromonte hairpins although 5 min of my PB - 19m49s instead of 14m33 - 25% ! Although I blame 28mm rather than 25mm tires.

Same as last year but in the reverse direction. I was looking for another pass but it doesn't seem that the road is surfaced. The weather has been unsettled and it didn't look good reaching Omegna.

RouteNice little ride along the foothills of lake Orta to a monastry on top of a hill with lake views. The route passes through a few traditional Italian villages. There is a bar in Miasino.

Afternoon trip to recover my sunglasses left in a cafe in Orta. This gave me the opportunity to cycle around the headland of Orta then ride up to Armeno in the route I normally ride down.

Passo della Colma is 8.9 kilometers long for an elevation gain of 490 meters giving an average gradient of 5.1%. The climb starts near the historic town of Varallo, which is worth a detour.

Main climb was pleasant but still finding the very steep ramps hard. Little shake down of the bike after the trip.

1h25 for the loop but a bit tight as I only had 1h30 for lunch so had to push it after the climb.

A trip to Orta isn't complete without a Coiromonte. Well that is not really true but it is quite an interesting climb and only takes just over an hour.