The Col de Portet 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

French Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

in the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs es, Altos Pirineos; ca, Alts Pirineus alts piɾiˈneʊs English: Upper Pyrenees) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. ...

and the

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. The eastern side of the pass is located in the heart of the skiing area above

Saint-Lary-Soulan Saint-Lary-Soulan (; oc, Sent Lari e Sola) is a communes of France, commune of Southwestern France, located in the Hautes-Pyrénées departments of France, department, Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. Geography Saint-Lary is locate ...

, and is the winter home of the snowpark of the resort. In summer, it is one of the gateways to the

Néouvielle massif , photo=Pic Ramougn.jpg , photo_caption=North side of Pic Ramougn from Hourquette d'Aubert , country=France , region_type=Region , region= Hautes-Pyrénées, region1= , region2= , region3= , parent=Pyrenees , length_km=, length_orienta ...

and the

Pyrénées National Park Pyrénées National Park (french: Parc national des Pyrénées) is a French national park located within the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.Le Parc national des Pyrénées (2014). Le Parc national des Pyrénées, un � ...

for hikers.

Cycling

An attempt to reach the Col de Portet had already been considered by the city of Saint-Lary-Soulan for the 1982 Tour de France, after several arrivals at the

Pla d'Adet Pla d'Adet or Saint-Lary 1700 is a ski resort in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, and the region Midi-Pyrénées. The resort is situated above the village of Saint-Lary-Soulan, at an altitude of . The climb to the ski ...

ski station. Though, the planned finish was cancelled at the end of May 1982, resulting in a finish at Pla d'Adet. After a further wait of 36 years, the climb to the Col de Portet was introduced in the

2018 Tour de France The 2018 Tour de France was the 105th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 7 July in Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, in western France, and concluding on 29 July with the ...

, as the finish for Stage 17. The Col was also featured in the 2021 Tour de France, again as the finish of Stage 17. Yellow jersey-holder

Tadej Pogačar Tadej Pogačar (; born 21 September 1998) is a Slovenian cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Tour de France, winning three different jerseys during each Tour, a feat unseen in nearly four deca ...

won the stage. At 13 FIETS, the Col de Portet is ranked by PJAMM Cycling as the second hardest bike climb in France, behind only the Col de la Loze. The Col averages an 8.6% grade for 16.1 km, ascending nearly 1,400 meters.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portet Mountain passes of Hautes-Pyrénées Mountain passes of the Pyrenees

Cycling

See also

References

External links