Col du Granon (el. ) 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

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

in France. A narrow tarmac road winds steeply up the southern approach. Gravel roads continue beyond the pass, in a military training zone. It hosted the highest ever mountain-top stage finish 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 ...

—once only—in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, until the

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route en ...

, that had a finish in the

Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France. It connects Saint-M ...

, at of altitude.

Eduardo Chozas Eduardo Chozas Olmo (born 5 July 1960 in Madrid) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He won four stages at the Tour de France and three in the Giro d'Italia. He was also chosen as the most combative rider of 1990 Tour de Fran ...

of Spain won the stage after a long lone breakaway. During the

2022 Tour de France The 2022 Tour de France was the 109th edition of the Tour de France. It started in Copenhagen, Denmark on 1 July 2022 and ended with the final stage on the Champs-Élysées, Paris on 24 July 2022. Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard () won the general clas ...

Team Jumbo-Visma launched a relentless attack against two-time defending champion

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 ...

, using

Wout van Aert Wout van Aert (born 15 September 1994) is a Belgian professional road and cyclo-cross racer who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the men's elite race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He joined in ...

Christophe Laporte Christophe Laporte (born 11 December 1992 in La Seyne-sur-Mer) is a French cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Laporte was a member of from 2014 to 2021. He was named in the Team Cofidis start list for the Tour de France for seven co ...

and

Primož Roglič Primož Roglič (; born 29 October 1989) is a Slovenian racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He started as a ski jumper and switched to cycling several years after an accident suffered at Planica. At the 2017 Tour de France, Roglič bec ...

, which allowed

Jonas Vingegaard Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen (; born 10 December 1996) is a Danish cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the 2022 edition of the Tour de France. Vingegaard started as a youth rider for various Danish teams, making his breakthrough as a sen ...

to seize the yellow jersey. Like LeMond in 1986, Vingegaard would defend his lead for the rest of the race.

Description

Two roads lead to the pass at . The D234T climbs with a 9% average gradient from

Saint-Chaffrey Saint-Chaffrey (; oc, Sant Chafrei) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 1,567. An alpine commune, Saint-Chaffrey is located in the Valley o ...

at an altitude of . From the east a dirt road to the military pass at Val-des-Prés climbs at almost 7% gradient.

Tour de France – stage finishes

References

External links

Cycling Col du Granon - Elevation Profile, Map, Photos
Mountain passes of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Mountain passes of the Alps Landforms of Hautes-Alpes Transport in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur {{HautesAlpes-geo-stub

Description

Tour de France – stage finishes

See also

References

External links