Col de l’Espaul
	Height	Climbing height
	1748m	955m (Guillaumes); 75m (Valberg) 306m (Beuil); 1410m (Le Pont du Cians)
	Difficulty	Beauty
	2-3 (5) West; 1 (5) East	3 (5)
How to get there	The real climb here is Col de Valberg (1673m). Col de l’Espaul is a nearby pass reached on an almost flat road from this pass, but as it is slightly higher it got included in this list. The western climb from Guillaumes (793m) is the interesting one and this is actually two climbs as one could climb “straight” up to Col de Valberg or go via the nice little village of Péone (1172m) to the pass. I did the later in 2004, but the direct road should be very nice too. It was most nice around Péone on this climb. Valberg is a ski resort and more known as such, than as a mountain pass (similar to Sestriere, but this place is smaller). From Valberg on should try and find a little road that goes north. The asphalt runs out at this pass. The climb from Beuil (1442m) is not much of a climb and merely a nice little ride on a varied road. However, if you start from Le Pont du Cians (338m) you will have a nice and long climb through the Gorges du Cians.
Other comments	If coming from the south one would have a choice of going up either of Gorges de Daluis or Gorges du Cians – two very interesting gorge roads with plenty of tunnels. There are some other passes accessible by a road bike in this area as well: Col de Ste Anne (1551m) shortly after Beuil on the main road to Valberg and Collet du Guérin (1638m) which is on a side road (Bergians) going south near Col de Ste Anne (turn right at the first choice and the pass is where the aspahlt ends). From Beuil one could go up the impressive (on the east side) Col de la Couillole (1678m). The photo is taken from La Colle (1787m) at the end of the gravel road that continues from Col de l’Espaul toward this pass. (The are also some other gravel road passes reached from Valberg that could be tried, but I cannot recommend them with a road bike.) [FR-06-1748]