Col du Grand Colombier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the

Jura mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...

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 ...

. This pass lies at the southern extremity of the Jura in the massif of the

Grand Colombier Grand Colombier is a small, uninhabited island in the French North American territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Only 50 ha in area, it lies 500 m off the north coast of Saint Pierre Island and rises to an elevation of 150 m. It ...

. With the Col du Chasseral, it is the highest road pass in the Jura. It passes between the Grand Colombier (el. ) and the Croix du Colombier (), which is accessible by trail from the pass. The view from the summit is superb, either down the valley of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

, the

Lac du Bourget Lac du Bourget (; English Lake Bourget), also locally known as Lac Gris (; en, Grey Lake) or Lac d'Aix (), is a lake at the southernmost end of the Jura Mountains in the department of Savoie, France. It is the deepest lake located entirely with ...

and the gorges of Val-de-Fier, or the distant peaks of 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 ...

Cycle racing

It is one of the most difficult passes in France, with stretches in excess of 20% on the climb from

Artemare Artemare () is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. Geography Artemare is a commune in Valromey 16 km north of Belley and 8 km north-west of Culoz and the Rhône. Artemare is exposed ...

via

Virieu-le-Petit Virieu-le-Petit (; frp, Veriô-le-Petit) is a former commune in the Ain department in eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Arvière-en-Valromey.Bugey The Bugey (, ; Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the department of Ain, eastern France, located between Lyon and Geneva. It is located in a loop of the Rhône River in the southeast of the department. It includes the foothills of the ...

(western) side. The pass has seen frequent use in

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, being a regular feature of the

Tour de l'Ain Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional cycling stage race held in eastern France. G.P. de l'Amitié The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.). It was held over fo ...

and also 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 ...

and

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents ...

. From

Culoz Culoz ( or ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. On 1 January 2023, it was merged into the new commune of Culoz-Béon. Geography The town, which is ...

(south), the ascent is long, gaining in elevation at an average gradient of 6.9%, but with some sections at 12%. This climb is the direction used on

Stage 5 Stage 5 (or, originally, "Stage V") is an unofficial stage at the Walnut Valley Festival, an annual bluegrass festival in Winfield, Kansas, United States. Set up in the Pecan Grove campground, the informal stage began in 1987 when camper Russel ...

of the

2012 Critérium du Dauphiné The 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné was the sixty-fourth running of the Critérium du Dauphiné cycling stage race; a race rated as a World Tour event on the UCI calendar, the highest classification such an event can have. The race consisted of eigh ...

and Stage 10 of the

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 22 July. The Tour consisted of 21 stages, inc ...

. The Col can also be reached from Anglefort (east), from where it is in length, climbing at an average grade of 7.9%.

Tour de France

It was visited by 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 ...

for the first time on Stage 10 of the 2012 Tour as a

Hors Catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the ...

climb. The leader over the summit was

Thomas Voeckler Thomas Voeckler (; born 22 June 1979) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for the team and its previous iterations. One of the most prominent French riders of his generation, Voeckler has b ...

, who went on to take the stage victory in

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (, literally ''Bellegarde on Valserine''; frp, Bèlagouârda) is a former commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 11,326. On 1 January 2019, i ...

. Stage 15 of the 2020 Tour finished atop the pass.

References

External links

Le col du Grand Colombier dans le Tour de France

Details for each of the four climbs

Tour de France Stage 10 video preview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Colmbier, Col du Mountain passes of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mountain passes of the Jura Landforms of Ain