Super Besse is a winter sports resort in the Massif Central in France.
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The winter sports resort of Super Besse is located in the commune of Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise in the Parc naturel régional des volcans d'Auvergne in the department of Puy de Dôme, in Auvergne. Situated approximately 50 km from Clermont-Ferrand, it is located at an altitude of 1350 m on the slopes of Puy de Sancy, Puy de la Perdrix and Puy Ferrand.
The on piste skiing represents 43 km distributed on 27 tracks (5 green, 9 blue, 9 red and 4 black) between 1300 m and 1840 m altitude, on the south-eastern slope of Puy de Sancy, and is served by 21 ski lifts ensuring a maximum flow of 20,000 skiers per hour. There are also 125 km of cross-country skiing.
The resort has:
The skiable field extends to "Grand Sancy" thanks to the connection to Mont-Dore, located on the northern slope of Puy de Sancy. However this connection is seldom open because of the difficult winter climate (strong winds, frozen snow, fog etc.).
Super-Besse hosted the first mountain finish of the 2008 Tour de France. The finish was at an altitude of 1289 m, whereas in previous years the finish was at 1350 m.
| Year | Stage | Start of stage | Distance (km) | Category of climb | Stage winner | Yellow jersey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 8 | Aigurande | 189 | 3 | Rui Costa | Thor Hushovd |
| 2008 | 6 | Aigurande | 195.5 | 2 | None | Kim Kirchen |
| 1996 | 13 | Le Puy-en-Velay | 177 | 3 | Rolf Sorensen | Bjarne Riis |
| 1978 | 13 | Figeac | 221.5 | 3 | Paul Wellens | Joseph Bruyère |
No winner is recorded for the 2008 stage as original stage winner Riccardo Riccò was removed from the classification after testing positive for the banned performance-enhancer CERA.
Starting from Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise (1040 m.), the climb to Super Besse (1325 m.) is 7.2 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 285 m. (an average of 3.95%). The maximum gradient is 8.4%.
From the valley at Lomprat the total climb is 11 km at 4.7%.