France · Pyrenees · Hautes-Pyrénées
Col d'Aspin — 1,490 metres of forest and pasture
Profile of the Col d'Aspin — 1,490m in the French Pyrenees, a forested, wildlife-rich pass between Arreau and Sainte-Marie-de-Campan.
Aspin is the green one. Where Col du Tourmalet is all rock and scree, Aspin runs through beech forest and open pasture, with cows belled and loose on the summit road. It is the shortest of the central Pyrenean passes and often the most pleasant.
History
Aspin was on the Tour de France's very first Pyrenean route in 1910, the stage that produced the famous Octave Lapize "Vous êtes des assassins!" line at the Tourmalet summit later that day. Unlike its famous neighbour, Aspin stays close to its pastoral character, used as much by shepherds moving stock between valleys as by cyclists. The summit road runs through unfenced common grazing land, which is why cattle have right of way here all summer.
Riding it
From Arreau on the east side it is 12 km at a steady 6.5%; from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan on the west 13 km at a similar average. Neither side has anything cruel, but both tighten in the last 3 km as the road breaks out above the treeline.
The summit is a broad grass saddle. If you arrive early you'll share it with the Aubrac-cross herd that grazes here all summer. The descent into Payolle on the Campan side is one of the prettiest in the Pyrenees, long sweeping curves through a wide alpine meadow.
Along the way
- Lac de Payolle — A small emerald lake on the Campan side with cafés and picnic tables, the standard cyclist stop on the west descent.
- The summit cows — A free-grazing herd of Aubrac-cross cattle that lives on the pass all summer, and expect to share the road with them.
- Payolle meadow descent — Open alpine grassland with long sight lines and gentle curves, one of the best cruising descents in the range.
- Col du Tourmalet — Aspin pairs with the Tourmalet on the classic back-to-back Pyrenean day.
- Pyrenees Grand Tour — Aspin sits on the main through-route of the multi-day loop.