This post recounts the fourteenth and final day of my English Channel to the Mediterranean cycle tour in France with Peak Tours in June 2025. Read Day 13: Les Salles-sur-Verdon to Castellane.

We made it to the Med!

At breakfast, I had a few butterflies as I so often do before a ride. This was magnified by chatting to Tim about London Edinburgh London, the 1,530km audax ride we’re both tackling in August. That’s 950 miles in five days, compared with 873 miles in 14 days on this tour. Channel to the Med has been brilliant training, and if LEL coincides with a heatwave I’ll know what to expect.

Once again today we had a long climb from the outset, although nothing like as steep as the ascent to the Gorges du Verdon yesterday. We climbed 1,000 feet in just over five miles, and I stopped to look back to Castellane and the Roc as you can see above. (I always find it satisfying on a climb to get a scenic confirmation of my progress.) We had a lovely descent before one final steep ramp, followed by a gentle rise for about 15 miles.

Above: scenes from the morning climbs

As I was taking photos, two panniered touring cyclists stopped to admire the view I’d spotted. Unlike so many of the laden cycle tourists we saw on this tour they were British. When they joined us at our morning break (seen above) they explained that they were on a charity bike ride from Leicester to Nice. We’d seen them a few times in previous days but this was the last time our paths crossed as they stopped for lunch soon afterwards.

Over our long tour we’d seen many logs stacked by the side of the road, but today was the first time I remember seeing a lorry and trailer transporting the timber.

Wendy, Jim, Mark and I stopped to admire the view near the top of the long climb, with an unexpected thistle suggesting this was Scotland not the south of France.

We now had the pleasure of a 20 mile downhill run almost to the Mediterranean. We raced through tunnels and under rocky outcrops as the road weaved along a dramatic valley, including the curious double arch seen above. At last we slowed for two sharp hairpins on the approach to Gréolières, our lunch stop. Enjoyable as a very long descent can be, you do need to concentrate, and lunch gave us the chance of a decent rest.

Above: the hairpinned road to Gréolières

We had a splendid lunch at Le Relais at Gréolières. We were served by a man with such good English I suspected he was British. It was an enjoyable final meal on the road.

We now set off on the last leg of our tour. The first stretch was in woodland, which was so characteristic of our French journey. But after a mile or so we entered the Gorges du Loup, which was very similar to the Gorges du Verdon yesterday.

We’d been told to look out for a waterfall at a bridge over the river, so we stopped but couldn’t see the falls. After taking the pictures above I spotted the feature on the left after gaining speed again. I decided not to stop again.

We passed through a succession of tunnels as we descended the gorge.

It was satisfying to see signs for Nice as we got closer to the coast. We had one final steep but short climb as we entered the coastal conurbation. Like so many ascents over the 14 days, it felt harder than expected. Wendy, Jim and I got confused by the route on the final mile, and checked the route notes one last time as we passed through Cagnes-sur-Mer. This is where the Peak Tours Channel to the Med route ends, rather than in neighbouring Nice.

At last, we reached a road that led to the Mediterranean shore, where we found the rendezvous bar Lebanon where we were meeting. We were surprised to find we were the last to arrive – and the fact the others were sipping their celebratory drinks suggested they’d been there a while!

Guide Mick greeted us, and once we had our drinks congratulated everyone on our successful ride from the English Channel to the Mediterranean.

We were soon cycling along the promenade to take the obligatory group photo and video.

We had a very short final ride to the van to drop off the bikes for their long drive back to the Peak Tours HQ in the Peak District. We then got cabs to our hotel, relishing their air conditioned luxury on another very hot day. I enjoyed a short snooze before heading out for drinks and our final dinner. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spending time with this fine group of people, both on the road and socialising in the evenings. I shall miss them.

The day’s stats

50.45 miles, 2,697 feet climbing, 3 hours 46 mins cycling, average speed 13.4mph

The day’s highlights video

The tour highlights video – 14 days in under 5 minutes!

Final reflections on Channel to the Med

Conquering Ventoux

This has been my toughest cycling holiday, despite having cycled over 3,000 miles in 2025, including almost 300 miles and 18,000 feet of climbing the weekend before we set off. It has been a wonderful experience, showing France’s enormously rich variety of landscapes, including the mountains of the Auvergne and gorges that rival America’s Grand Canyon. And I’ll never forget conquering Ventoux, despite my slow progress up the Giant of Provence.

We were both lucky and unlucky with the weather. Rain isn’t unheard of in the south of France, so we were fortunate that it rained for just five minutes during 870 miles of cycling. It gave us countless spectacular views. And as Mick says, this tour gets more spectacular with every passing day. But cycle touring is tough when it’s over 30C, especially on long, steep climbs, with many days including over 5,000 feet of climbing. (Setting off up Ventoux before 8am when it was cooler was a smart idea.) It isn’t much fun cycling in heavy rain, but provided it isn’t cold it doesn’t place the same amount of strain on the body.

Argenton-sur-Creuse

The disadvantage of this kind of tour is that you have so little time to savour the beautiful places you visit. But it does give a taster for more leisurely return visits whether by bike, plane or car. This certainly won’t be my last French cycle tour.