Col du Tourmalet
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| Col du Tourmalet | |
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 Col du Tourmalet |
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| Elevation | 2,114 metres (6,936 feet) |
| Location | Hautes-Pyrénées,  France |
| Range | Pyrenees |
| Coordinates | |
Col du Tourmalet (el. 2114 m./6935 ft.) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France.
The village of Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot of the climb on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie is two-thirds of the way up. The village of Luz-Saint-Sauveur is at the bottom of the western side.
Tourmalet is also the name of a cheese made from sheep milk produced in these mountains. White-winged Snowfinches nest in the ski towers near the col.
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[edit] Details of the climb
The western side, from Luz-Saint-Sauveur, is 19km long. Over this distance, the climb is 1404m, an average of 7.4% with a maximum of 10.2% near the summit. Starting from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, the climb is 17.2km gaining 1268m, an average 7.4% with a maximum of 10.0%. Each kilometre is marked by a sign showing the distance to the summit and the average gradient of the next kilometre.
[edit] Tour de France
The Col du Tourmalet is one of the most famous of the mountain climbs on the Tour de France bicycle race. It has been included more than any other mountain pass, starting in 1910, when the Pyrenees were introduced. The first rider over the summit was Octave Lapize, who went on to claim the yellow jersey in Paris. In 1913, Eugène Christophe broke his fork on the Tourmalet and repaired it himself at a forge in Sainte-Marie-de-Campan in order to continue the race.
Since 1947, the Tour has crossed the summit 47 times, plus a stage finish at the summit in 1974. There have also been three finishes at La Mongie. Since 1980 it has been consistently ranked hors catégorie, or beyond classification in terms of difficulty.
At the top of the Col du Tourmalet is a memorial to Jacques Goddet, director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1987, and a large statue of a rider gasping for air as he struggles to make the climb.
[edit] Other events
The Col du Tourmalet features in other bicycle races, including the Vuelta a España when it has made excursions into France. It is also on the route of cyclosportive competitions. Thousands of amateur riders make the climb every year and many take documents to have rubber-stamped in the shop at the summit to show they have made it.
[edit] Appearances in Tour de France (since 1947)
[edit] Tour de France stage finishes
| Year | Stage | Category | Stage winner | Yellow jersey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 17 | 1 | Jean-Pierre Danguillaume | Eddy Merckx |
See also La Mongie
[edit] External links
- Profile on climbbybike.com
- Climb profiles (French)
- Tourmalet cheese
- Tourmalet website (French)
- Bagneres de Bigorre - La Mongie website (French)
