Col de la Colombière (elevation 1613 m) is a mountain pass in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

in the department of

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It connects

Cluses Cluses (; frp, Clluses) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. Citizens are known as ''Clusiens''. The commune is situated in the Arve Valley, on the river which bears the same ...

in the

Arve The Arve (french: L'Arve, ) is a river in France (''département'' of Haute-Savoie), and Switzerland (canton of Geneva). A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long, of which 9 km in Switzerland. Its catchment area is , of which 80 km2 ...

valley with

Le Grand-Bornand Le Grand-Bornand (; frp, Bornan) is a commune in the eastern French department of Haute-Savoie. The commune is a ski resort and takes its name from the river that runs through it. The inhabitants of Le Grand-Bornand are called Bornandins. Geo ...

in the Bourne valley. The road then leads further to Annecy or over

Col des Aravis The Col des Aravis is a mountain pass in the French Alps that connects the towns of La Clusaz in Haute-Savoie with La Giettaz in Savoie. At 1487 m it is the lowest pass in the Aravis Range of mountains. Appearances in Tour de France (Since 1947 ...

to the

Arly The Arly () is a 32.1 km long river in the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. It is a tributary of the Isère, which it joins at Albertville. Towns crossed by the river * Megève * Praz-sur-Arly * Flumet * Saint-Nicolas-la-C ...

valley and is situated between the Massif des Bornes to the north-west and the Chaîne des Aravis to the south-east. The pass is not an important traffic route because there are better roads that parallel it, particularly the A40 autoroute.

Details of climb

Although the pass is not very high, it is technically difficult for cyclists. Starting from Scionzier, the climb is 16.3 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 1108 m (an average percentage of 6.8%). The steepest section is 10.2% near the summit. From

, the Col de la Colombière is 11.7 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 690 m (an average percentage of 5.9%). On 31 May 2015,

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

broke his leg near the start of the climb in Scionzier.

Appearances in Tour de France

The pass was first included in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

and has since featured 23 times, most recently in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Notes

References

External links

Cycling both sides with map, video, profiles, photosProfile on climbbybike.comCol de la Colombière on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colombiere Mountain passes of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mountain passes of the Alps Landforms of Savoie Transport in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Climbs in cycle racing in France

Details of climb

Appearances in Tour de France

See also

Notes

References

External links