The Col de Portet d'Aspet (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 ...

in the central Pyrenees in the department of Haute-Garonne in France. It is situated on the

D618 Route nationale 618 or RN 618 was a French national road linking Saint-Jean-de-Luz (on the Atlantic Ocean) to Argelès-sur-Mer (on the Mediterranean). En route it crossed many of the famous passes in the Pyrenees, immortalized by the Tour de France ...

road between Aspet and Saint-Girons and connects the Ger and Bouigane valleys, on the slopes of the Pic de Paloumère ().

Details of climb

Starting from

Audressein Audressein (; oc, Audressenh) is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Audressenois'' or ''Audressenoises''. Geography Audressein is situated on the ...

, in Ariège, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is at an average gradient of 3.1%. The climb proper starts at Saint-Lary, and from the summit (at 6.8%), with the steepest sections being at 10.6% near the summit. Starting from Aspet, in Haute-Garonne, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is at an average gradient of 4.2%. The climb proper starts at the D618/D44 junction (also the start of the climb to the

Col de Menté The Col de Menté (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees in the department of Haute-Garonne in France. It is situated on the D44 road between Saint-Béat and the D618 (at the bottom of the Col de Portet d'Aspet) and connects th ...

), / from the summit (at 9.6%), with several sections in excess of 11%; the maximum gradient is 12.8%, from the summit. Col de Portet d'Aspet - Panorama

Appearances in Tour de France

The Col de Portet d'Aspet was first used in the Tour de France in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

and has appeared regularly since. The leader over the summit in 1910 was

Octave Lapize Octave Lapize (; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist. Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kilometres, ...

. Since 1947, the Col has featured 32 times including on Stage 12 of the 2015 race. In the 1973 tour

Raymond Poulidor Raymond Poulidor (; 15 April 1936 – 13 November 2019), nicknamed "Pou-Pou" (), was a French professional racing cyclist, who rode for his entire career. His distinguished career coincided with two other outstanding riders – Jacques Anquet ...

almost lost his life on the descent from the Portet d'Aspet when he plunged off the road into a ravine, taking a serious blow to the head and crawling out with the help of the race director,

Jacques Goddet Jacques Goddet (21 June 1905 – 15 December 2000) was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France road cycling race from 1936 to 1986. Goddet was born and died in Paris. His father, Victor Goddet, was co-founder and finance di ...

Fabio Casartelli

On 18 July 1995, during the fifteenth stage of the

1995 Tour de France The 1995 Tour de France was the 82nd Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 23 July. It was Miguel Indurain's fifth and final victory in the Tour. On the fifteenth stage Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after an accident on the Col de Portet ...

, Fabio Casartelli and a few other riders crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet. Casartelli sustained heavy facial and head injuries and lost consciousness. While being transported via helicopter to a local hospital, he stopped breathing and after numerous resuscitation attempts was declared dead. The Société du Tour de France and the Motorola team placed a memorial stone dedication to Casartelli on the spot where he crashed.

References

External links

Camping on topCol de Portet d'Aspet on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portet D'Aspet, Col de Mountain passes of Haute-Garonne Mountain passes of the Pyrenees Climbs in cycle racing in France