The Col de Turini (el. 1607 m) is a high

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

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, Sw ...

in the department of

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, situated entirely in the

Arrondissement of Nice The arrondissement of Nice is an arrondissement of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has 101 communes. Its population is 522,637 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arron ...

. The road connects

Lantosque Lantosque (; oc, Lantosca) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. It is one of sixteen villages grouped together by the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur tourist department as the ''Route des Villages Perchés'' (R ...

in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

La Bollène-Vésubie La Bollène-Vésubie (; oc, La Bolena) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called Bollénois; in the Niçois dialect of Langue d'Oc the name is ...

, with

Sospel Sospel (; Mentonasc: Sospèl, Italian Sospello) is a commune (municipality) and former schismatic episcopal seat (1381-1418) in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France near the Italian border and not far from Monte Carlo. Hist ...

in the commune Moulinet. It is the major road link between the river valley of the

Vésubie The Vésubie is a river in the southeast of France. It is a left tributary of the Var in the Maritime Alps. It is long. Its drainage basin is .

and the

Bévéra The Bévéra (in French) or Bevera (in Italian) (''Beura'' in Occitan and Ligurian) is a river of southeastern France and northwestern Italy. Geography Bévéra source is in the Maritime Alps, near Moulinet in the French Alpes-Maritimes depar ...

valley. It is notorious for its many hairpins and scenic landscapes.

Auto racing

The Col de Turini features every year in the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

, held in January, as the setting of a stage. The stage is run from

up to the summit of the mountain pass, and descending to

, or the reverse trajectory. « La Grande Traversée des Alpes, le guide », supplément du magazine ''Top Vélo'' n°172, juillet 2011, Known for its narrow road with many

hairpin turn A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hai ...

s, the Col de Turini is the technical centrepiece of the rally. Until a few years ago, race pilots drove up the mountain pass at night, with thousands of fans watching the so-called ''"night of the long knives"'' as it was called, due to the strong high beam lights cutting through the night. The Col de Turini featured in the first episode of Top Gear series 10 when the presenters intended to search the greatest driving road in the world.

Cycling

The Col de Turini is occasionally included in cycling races. The western side of the col, starting in

in the Vésubie valley, is 15.3 km with an average gradient of 7.2%. The southeastern ascent, starting in

, is 24 km with an average gradient of 5.2%. Both ascents have a maximum gradient of 9%. It featured three times 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 ...

, always mid-stage: in 1948, 1950 and 1973. In 2019, the Col de Turini was included in the

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

stage race. It hosted the finish of the seventh stage, climbed by its western ascent. Appearances in the Tour de France: Appearances in Paris–Nice:

External links

References

Mountain passes of the Alps, Turini

Turini Turini (Aymara ''turi'' tower, ''-ni'' a suffix, "the one with a tower", also spelled ''Torrini'') is a mountain in the Bolivian Andes which reaches a height of approximately . It is located in the La Paz Department, Loayza Province, Cairoma ...

Monte Carlo Rally {{Provence-geo-stub

Auto racing

Cycling

See also

External links

References