The Col de Porte (elevation ) is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

situated in the

Chartreuse Mountains The Chartreuse Mountains (french: massif de la Chartreuse ) are a mountain range in southeastern France, stretching from the city of Grenoble in the south to the Lac du Bourget in the north. They are part of the French Prealps, which continue a ...

in the

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territ ...

to the south and

Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse () is a commune in the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, to the north of the city of Grenoble. The Grande Chartreuse, the head m ...

to the north. It sits on the D512 between

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

and

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chambér ...

, and prior to 1998 was often crossed in conjunction with the Col du Cucheron and the Col du Granier. To the east is

Chamechaude Chamechaude is the highest summit in the Chartreuse Massif in the Isère department in eastern France. It is the fourth most prominent mountain in metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole'' ...

, the highest summit in the Chartreuse Massif. There is a small ski resort situated near the col.

Cycle racing

The Col de Porte is regularly used in the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

. In the sixth stage of the 1977 Critérium,

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

fell on the descent from the Col de Porte leading to Grenoble when he was alone in the lead, 1'40" ahead of his competitors. Despite the fall, he won the stage at

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...

in Grenoble ahead of

Lucien Van Impe Lucien Van Impe (; born 20 October 1946) is a Belgians, Belgian cyclist, who competed professionally between 1969 and 1987. He excelled mainly as a climbing specialist, climber in multiple-day races such as the Tour de France. He was the winner ...

and

Bernard Thévenet Bernard Thévenet (; born 10 January 1948) is a retired professional cyclist. His sporting career began with ACBB Paris. He is twice a winner of the Tour de France and known for ending the reign of five-times Tour champion Eddy Merckx, though bo ...

Details of the climb

From

, to the south, the climb via the D512 is long, gaining in altitude, at an average gradient of 6.3%, with the steepest section being at 10%. from the summit, it passes the Col de Palaquit ().

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 ...

in 1907, after which it was used in the next three tours, and then not again until 1947.

Appearances in Tour de France since 1947

Since 1947, the passages which have been categorized have been:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porte, Col de Mountain passes of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Isère