Reaching the route requires either an out-and-back day trip by car or on the touristic Train des Merveilles, or a multi-day ride from the Café. Whatever your chosen method, to go there is to pass from one azur coastal world to another, higher, alpine place of beauty.

Arriving in Tende, looking up reveals an almost 360 degree surround of peaks, in which hides the network of historic gravel roads. These are not simple forest fire roads, but donkey paths the evolved into the double-tracks that gravel riders know and love. What remains of the engineering and construction of the Via del Sale is evidence of its purpose - this was an important trade route for a valuable commodity.

From Tende many will prefer to take the switchback packed old border road that snakes its way up the mountainside to the old cross roads and abandoned military barracks that find themselves surrounded by the skiers of the Limone Piemonte resort during winter months.

Alternatively, you can choose to add extra distance by starting your ride beside Mussolini's grand abandoned train station in Saint-Dalmas-de-Tende and climb to Casterino. It's a beautiful 13km alpine road to the hamlet where you then continue upwards towards the loose stuff. The east side of the Casterino valley tops out above the tree line at the Baisse de Peïrefique from where you follow the mountain's curve, enjoying a relatively flat and fully panoramic ride with impressive views of the Col de Tende.

From Col de Tende following the track east is where the real ambiance of the old salt road kicks in. It's a roller coaster ride along the ridge line, up and over peaks, in and out of the contours of the mountains. Physically demanding and visually rewarding.

That Instagram-winning moment comes as the road decides to follow a cliff edge pointing north east towards Turin before turning abruptly back on itself in the direction of the Mediterranean.

Those who have ridden the Torino-Nice Rally will remember this section only too well. Many will have been aiming for a hearty Italian dinner and a good night of sheltered sleep at the Rifugio Don Barbera, a 20km ride from the Col de Tende itself. Here you can find refuge in a place where you feel completely removed from modern life. If it wasn't planned, the temptation to take an alpine overnighter will be strong.

From the Refuge, the road climbs out to the dramatic views of the Cime de Pertégue before some welcomed descending into pine forests, in which some of the best mountain cabins this side of a hipster-coffee table book are hiding.

The final climb of the ride is religious. Or at least it might feel that way if you are riding the whole route in one go. Up to the Passo di Tanarello with its viewpoint over the layers of peaks that line themselves up like accordion back down towards the coast, the last climb is a steep one.

From here, the descent to La Brigue is long and rough, taking good bike-handling skills and strong forearms to cover the ground as efficiently as possible. Sometimes that is gravel riding. It's why they say maybe four hours on the rough stuff is worth six on the smooth. But the Via del Sale is not about statistics. It is an experience that will last a lifetime.

Read more about the unbeaten tracks that surround Nice in our Riviera Gravel series.

THE ROUTE - https://www.strava.com/routes/21790163