Valmorel () is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

in the

Tarentaise Valley The Tarentaise Valley (french: Vallée de la Tarentaise, ; frp, Tarentèsa) is a valley of the Isère River in the heart of the French Alps, located in the Savoy region of France. The valley is named for the ancient town of ''Darantasia'', the ...

, located in the communes of

Les Avanchers-Valmorel Les Avanchers-Valmorel ( Savoyard Arpitan: ''Los Avanchiérs''), also known simply as Les Avanchers, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 778. See also ...

and La Léchère, in the

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...

department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The station was opened in 1976. The domain is connected to the Mauriennaise station at

Saint-François-Longchamp Saint-François-Longchamp (; frp, Sent-Francês-sus-Bujon) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2017, the former communes of Montaimont and Montgellafrey were merged in ...

and forms the area known as Grand-Domaine.

Resort name

Valmorel is named from the valley of the River Morel, a tributary of the River Isère.

Resort Access

The route to Valmorel passes

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

on the N90 until the Aigueblanche / La Lèchère / Doucy Tarentaise / Valmorel exit ramp. From there one route goes to Le Bois and continues directly to Val Morel. The other route goes through Doucy Tarentaise and then the hamlets of Raclaz, Villaret and Meiller. The second route passes the small resort of Doucy-Combelouvière which is linked to Valmorel by ski slopes.

Sports

Cycling

The climb to Valmorel, over at a 7% gradient from Aigueblanche, completed the fifth stage of the

2013 Critérium du Dauphiné The 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné was the sixty-fifth running of the Critérium du Dauphiné cycling stage race; a race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation, rated as a World Tour event on the UCI calendar, the highest classification such ...

. The climb was classified as ''

hors catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the ...

''. The stage victory went to

Christopher Froome Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one G ...

, who beat

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the V ...

and

Matthew Busche Matthew Busche (born May 9, 1985) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2016 for the , , and teams. In 2009, he gained notoriety for his rapid rise from a Wisconsin-based amateur team t ...

. The

2018 Critérium du Dauphiné The 2018 Critérium du Dauphiné was a road cycling stage race that took place between 3 and 10 June 2018 in France. It was the 70th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné and the twenty-third event of the 2018 UCI World Tour. The race was wo ...

also had a Stage 5 finish at Valmorel.

Dan Martin Daniel Martin may refer to: People * Dan Martin (actor) (born 1951), American actor *Dan Martin (drama educator) (born 1953), American academic *Dan Martin (cyclist) (born 1986), Irish road bicycle racer *Dan Martin (footballer) (born 1986), Britis ...

won this stage ahead of

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, (; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a tra ...

, with Thomas taking the yellow jersey.

References

External links

{{commonscat, Valmorel
Official English siteValmorel ski resort guide
Ski areas and resorts in France Savoie