La Hourquette d'Ancizan (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 French Pyrenees in the department of

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. ...

, between the communities of

Ancizan Ancizan (; oc, Ancida) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is desig ...

(east) and Campan (west).

Toponymy

The origin of the word hourquette is unclear. French Wikipedia speculates the word is derived from a Gascon given name, via the Latin ''furca'' meaning 'fork'. The word is very similar to the Spanish noun ''horqueta'' 'fork' and French noun ''fourchette'' 'fork', both of which have etymological roots in the same Latin word ''furca''. The word hourquette appears frequently in the toponymy of the

, particularly in the names of cols. In practical French usage, it could be taken to mean 'small pass'.

Details of climb

Starting from

, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is (an average of 7.8%). After Ancizan, the road goes up sharply, with stretches of 15% in the first kilometre, but after the first , the climb becomes more moderate. Starting from Campan, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is (an average of 4.0%), with the steepest section being at 10.0%. On both sides of the climb mountain pass cycling milestones are placed every kilometre. They indicate the height of the summit, the distance to the summit, the current height, and the average slope in the following kilometre. Such signposting for cyclists has become common in most major mountain passes in the French Pyrenees and Alps.

Appearances in Tour de France

La Hourquette d'Ancizan was first used in the Tour de France on stage 12 of the

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tour, when the leader over the summit was Laurent Mangel. The climb was also used in the 2013 tour on the 168.5 km "roller-coaster"

stage 9 Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * '' The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * S ...

from Saint-Girons to

Bagnères-de-Bigorre Bagnères-de-Bigorre (, literally ''Bagnères of Bigorre''; oc, label= Gascon, Banhèras de Bigòrra ) is a commune and subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées Department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. Name The town was known ...

. Dan Martin from Garmin-Sharp won the stage. The climb was used in the 2016 tour on the 184.4 km 8 from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon. Chris Froome of Team Sky won the stage and took the yellow jersey. The climb was part of 210km stage 12 of the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

tour, from Toulouse to Bagnères-de-Bigorre, ascending from Ancizan following the Col de Peyresourde. The climb was part of 130km stage 17 of the

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tour, from Saint-Gaudens to Peyragudes, ascending from Payolle following the Col d'Aspin.

References

External links

Hourquette d’Ancizan – Tour de FranceProfile from AncizanProfile from Campan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancizan Mountain passes of the Pyrenees Hourquette