Chasing Tour de France peaks by cycle and Stelvio

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio is named after a famously steep and twisty Italian mountain pass beloved of driving enthusiasts and cyclists.

I didn’t get to drive the Alfa Stelvio on its namesake road but a visit to Alpe d’Huez was a worthy substitute. The steep 13.8km road snakes up the French Alps for a 1,120m altitude gain and is generally considered the most iconic climb in the Tour de France cycle race. I did it twice last week: once by bicycle and once by Alfa Stelvio.

There were no throngs of spectators cheering me on with “allez” during either effort — as they do for the Tour de France cyclists — but that was OK. Climbing the mythical mountain road had been a long-held ambition as both cyclist and motoring enthusiast, and the bucket-list items didn’t require witnesses.

Tackling that steep road by bicycle gives one some appreciation of what the pro riders in the Tour go through, even though this MAMIL (middle-aged man in Lycra) averaged only half the speed of those young supermen. That was humbling, but the Alfa fared much better than me.

Once I’d sweated up the climb on leg power I packed the bicycle in the boot (it fits easily inside with the back seats flipped down) and tackled the same 21 hairpin bends in the Italian luxury SUV.

There was far less puffing and panting, but the car’s power and agility elevate the heart rate of an enthusiast driver. It is understandably not as nimble as the lighter and lower Giulia sports sedan on which it’s based, but the Stelvio has great traction with rear-biased all-wheel drive and limited-slip differential, plus unusually sharp steering for an SUV.

It’s the lightest mid-size SUV in its class thanks to a lightweight body structure and carbon fibre driveshaft.

It doesn’t feel terribly top heavy for a high-riding vehicle, making it a fairly wieldy barge to thread through the many sharp turns on our week-long Tour de France sojourn. I was there not only to tackle the climbs but to spectate a few stages of the world’s best-known cycling race.

With 206kW and 400Nm the 2.0l turbo petrol engine hauled up steep climbs like Jonas Vingegaard in full-attack mode. The car generates good gusto with the throttle pressed flat — though I kept this to a minimum with petrol in France costing about €1.90 (R38) a litre.

Mostly I cruised along at a relaxed lope, and was impressed by the big SUV’s fuel economy of 9.7l/100km.

The large metal paddles on the steering column entice you to shift gears manually and I sometimes did for the enjoyment of their cool metallic feel, but the eight-speed auto transmission does a fine job on its own. The DNA controller knob in the console between the front seats allows you to select mild to dynamic driving modes that affect the throttle, steering and gearshift responses.

Alfa Romeos are born with sporting hearts so the slick handling and spirited performance didn’t come as a surprise. More of an eye-opener was the Stelvio’s cushy ride and, unlike some sports SUVs, the Alfa doesn’t compromise bump-soaking comfort with too-firm suspension. The engineers have nailed a great ride-handling balance.

After I'd tackled other iconic climbs like Col du Galibier and Grand Colombier by bicycle, life in the Alfa’s luxurious cabin was peachy. While the pro cyclists in the peloton had to sweat for hours each day in search of sporting glory, the aircon was tested to the max in France’s 33 degree heat, but chilled the cabin effectively even after the black test car had been parked in the sun for hours.

The cabin blends premium finishes with sporty garnishes. The Stelvio was recently updated with an new Alfa Connect 3D Nav 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Thankfully the car hasn’t gone too deep down the digital rabbit hole, and still has physical controls that make it quicker to access functions like the climate control and audio system.

I found French drivers on the whole much better behaved than Mzansi’s, and their roads in far better condition than ours, but the Stelvio is equipped for various eventualities with automatic high-beam assist, blind spot assist, forward collision warning, lane-keeping assist and driver attention alert.

The most useful feature was the parking sensors in the front and rear bumpers, which helped in tight spots in old French villages with roads designed for small horse carts, not big SUVs.

Vingegaard won his second Tour de France, bicycle racing’s most prestigious feat; the French Alps win your heart for their scenic beauty and adrenaline-pumping roads; the Alfa Stelvio wins an “allez” for its comfort and practicality while retaining its sporting heart.

In SA the Alfa Romeo Stelvio 2.0T Veloce is priced at R1,205,500 with a five-year/100,000km warranty and maintenance plan.