And it links you to the road from Gorbio, which is appropriate given that the real name of the climb, unbeknownst to many, is the Col de la Madone de Gorbio.

The route from Gorbio links the two starts together, and from the junction where they meet the autoroute comes into view. Those who began on the classic route will have already wound their way around the giant stilts of the motorway – a stark concrete statement of modernisim and an undeniable feat of engineering that traverses the five different valleys between Gorbio on the western side and the eastern Garavan side of Menton.

Once past the autoroute, the village of Saint-Agnes eventually appears between the craggy outcrops. One of the ‘plus beux villages’ of France, it’s named after the Italian princess who took shelter from a coastal storm whilst praying to the patron saint that shared her name. Once the storm had blown itself out she followed through on her promise to build a sanctuary in her saviour’s honour – much like the Spanish sailors did on Madone d’Utelle.

Locals still tell of 9 French soldiers resisting no less than 5,000 Italian opponents over a 10 day onslaught in the Battle of La Pont Saint-Louis. When they finally had to accede to the Italians, the door of the outpost was locked and the key given to the French soldiers as a mark of respect.

Rumour has it that the barrier has never been repainted due to the amount of Italian blood that was spilt on it.

These days, thankfully, the only gunshots come from the sanglier hunters that often take to the hills behind and above Saint-Agnès.

It is in the wildness of the last 5kms where you’ll find herds of goats blocking the road, usually just after the three tunnels chiselled through the hard rock. On the final approach to the summit the antennae on the western peak gives a perspective of the last 200m elevation to be gained and the small deserted hut after a sharp left hander indicates the start of the final kilometre.