Signal du Mont du Chat, Mountain summit in Savoie, France.
Signal du Mont du Chat is a limestone summit in the Bugey massif, in the Savoie department of eastern France, rising to 1,504 meters. It sits directly above Lake Bourget and offers a wide view over the surrounding pre-Alpine landscape.
The Mont du Chat first gained wide attention in 1974, when the Tour de France included a stage over its slopes and Belgian rider Eddy Merckx took the win. Since then, the climb has been a reference point in professional road cycling.
The Mont du Chat is well known among cyclists who treat the climb as a personal test, and the road sees a steady flow of riders on weekends. At the top, the view over Lake Bourget gives a sense of how high the road has actually climbed.
The road up is paved and clearly signed, but several tight hairpin bends make the ascent demanding for both drivers and cyclists. The best time to visit is from spring to fall, when snow and ice are unlikely to be a concern.
The road holds a grade above 10 percent for several kilometers without any flat section to recover. This makes it one of the most sustained steep climbs on paved roads in France.
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