The Col Du Tourmalet - The King of Mountain Passes

The col du tourmalet is one of the most iconic climbs in cycling, it made its first appearance in the Tour de France back in 1910 and has been featured 87 times since. Sitting at 2,115m it is the highest paved road pass in the French Pyrenees, it’s a gruelling challenge that offers stunning views over the mountains below. The climb is split into two approaches; the eastern route from Sainte Marie de Campan and the western route via Luz Saint Sauveur. Both are 17km in length and have an average gradient of 7.4% however the western route is a little more challenging and offers more sweeping vistas.

The infamous col du tourmalet is sometimes referred to as the king of mountain passes, this is because it has been won by many legendary cyclists over the years. Winning the king of mountain points at any stage in the Tour de France is an incredible achievement for any cyclist but winning it on the col du tourmalet is even more special.

There are few roads in the world that are as iconic as the col du tourmalet. It is the most famous of all cycling climbs and has a huge amount of history behind it.

This famous climb was only able to be used as part of the Tour de France due to the hard work of a journalist called Alphonse Steines. Steines was determined that the Tour de France would use the col and he got the organiser of the Tour, Henri Desgrange, to fund the construction of the road.

The road was originally a goat track and the construction took over seven years to complete. When it was finished it was a massive success and in 1910 Octave Lapize became the first cyclist to ever win the tour after climbing this iconic climb. He had to walk most of the dirt road ascent and was famous for shouting at Tour officials “you are assassins” on the summit!

Octave was not the only famous winner of the col du tourmalet, Fausto Coppi also won on the climb en route to his second and final Tour de France title. The climb is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is not hard to see why.

The tourmalet is a truly magnificent road and it’s well worth riding to experience the views, atmosphere and gruelling challenge that awaits you at the top. For a fantastic opportunity to ride this iconic climb and take in other famous French climbs such as the Col d’Aspin, Col de Portet and La Mongie tack on our Col du tourmalet loop ride to create a cycle that will be hard to forget. It’s important to be aware of livestock and cattle along the roads on the Tourmalet as they tend to walk out into the middle of the road. Be careful and don’t provoke them as they can be aggressive. You should also watch out for other traffic as the roads are narrow with drop offs on both sides.col du tourmalet