Sallanches 2027: the Domancy, twenty times, and Pogačar's plan

On 29 August 2027 the World Championships road race will be decided on a climb that locals in Sallanches, Haute-Savoie, call the Côte de Domancy: 2.5 kilometres at an average of 9.4%, with ramps of 16%. To be climbed twenty times. One detail stuck with us: that day falls exactly one year after the crash that ended Tadej Pogačar's 2026 season at the Vuelta.

A Worlds built on a single climb

Start with the numbers, because they are the ones that stay in your head. The elite men will ride 265 kilometres on a 13.3 km circuit, repeated 20 times, for roughly 5,700 metres of climbing. That is what the Haute-Savoie tourism office and the Domestique website report, and Domestique adds a comparison: more climbing than any men's Worlds road race this century, Kigali 2025 included (5,475 metres over 267.5 kilometres).

Some arithmetic of our own. The climb alone is worth about 235 metres (2,500 metres times 9.4%); the rest of the lap brings the total to about 285 metres, which times twenty gives exactly 5,700. At an average of 40 km/h that is over six and a half hours in the saddle (6 hours 37 minutes, roughly). Which means this Worlds is not won by scaling a mountain: it is won by repeating the same climb until the others cannot anymore.

One more thing to know: according to Domestique, about nine kilometres remain after the summit before the finish. It is not a proper uphill finish, so the descent and the run-in matter. If we were team directors, we would think about that.

Hinault, 1980: the same climb

Sallanches has already hosted the Worlds, in 1964 and 1980. In 1980 Bernard Hinault won the rainbow jersey by attacking on this very Domancy. We are not doing cheap nostalgia: a climb that has already decided a Worlds has a history the riders know, and it weighs on the mind.

Pogačar: what is settled and what is not

UAE Team Emirates-XRG boss Mauro Gianetti has confirmed Pogačar's targets for 2027: Paris-Roubaix, the only Monument he has not yet won, a sixth Tour de France that would be a record, the Sallanches Worlds and a return to the Vuelta. IDL Pro Cycling and Domestique both report it. The Tour starts on 2 July in Edinburgh: we covered it in our 2027 Tour preview.

On his health: Pogačar crashed at the Vuelta on 29 August 2026 with a broken collarbone and neck problems, was operated on and will not race again until 2027. He is back on the bike. The rest is for time to tell, not us.

Our take

If we had to choose, we would choose Sallanches. A Worlds like this does not come every year, the Tour is already a declared target, and 265 kilometres with 5,700 metres at the end of August, six days before a Grand Tour, is an enormous ask for anyone. But that is a fan's opinion: they have the data, we have the passion.

We also like that a Worlds brings the attention back to a real climb, not to a finish built for television. A line worth keeping: at the 2027 Worlds the summit is not conquered, it is repeated.

Your own Domancy, without going to France

Everyone has their climb, the one you ride with one eye on the heart rate monitor and one on the road. Look around for a climb of two or three kilometres at around 9%: on our routes page you will find ones traced by the community. You do not need twenty laps: three are enough, and notice what happens on the third. It is not a training plan, it is a way to understand what repeating really means.

If long, beautiful climbs are your thing, we gathered the lake ones in our guide to the best cycling climbs around Lake Como. And if you want to mark next year's gran fondos, our 2027 calendar is up to date.

What would you do: the Worlds and the Vuelta in the same month, or pick one race? And what is your Domancy, the climb that makes you wish for an easier gear? Tell us in the comments.