Col du Tourmalet — king of the Pyrenees

The Tourmalet is the most-climbed pass in Tour de France history, more than eighty appearances since 1910. At 2,115 metres it is not the tallest road in the Pyrenees, but it is the most symbolic. The climb from Luz-Saint-Sauveur ends at a statue of a naked cyclist raising one fist into the sky: the Géant du Tourmalet.

History

The first time the Tour tried to cross the Tourmalet, in 1910, it was on a dirt cart track. Octave Lapize reached the top, pointed at the organisers, and shouted "Vous êtes des assassins!", "You are assassins!" The quote was probably embellished. The pass has been on the Tour's menu nearly every year since.

Riding it

The east ramp from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is 17.2 km at 7.4% average. The west side from Luz-Saint-Sauveur is a kilometre shorter and a shade steeper, with the last four kilometres clawing over 10%. Either way you end at the same windswept col. The descent on the Luz side is one of the best in the Pyrenees: technical, fast, and perfectly paved.

Along the way

• Pic du Midi observatory — A 2,877 m astronomical observatory accessible by cable car from La Mongie, with a viewing platform offering a 300 km panorama of the Pyrenean chain.
• Octave Lapize monument — A sculpture at the summit commemorating the rider who first crested the Tourmalet in the 1910 Tour de France, famously cursing the race organisers as assassins.
• La Mongie ski resort — A ski station on the eastern approach that serves as the last services stop before the summit, busy in winter and a quiet staging point in summer.
• Barèges — A thermal spa town on the western approach, the oldest spa in the Pyrenees and a favourite recovery stop for cyclists descending toward Luz-Saint-Sauveur.
• Col d'Aspin, Col d'Aubisque, Col du Soulor — The three sibling passes on any central-Pyrenees itinerary.
• Pyrenees Grand Tour — The multi-day route that strings them together.