The Col de Peyresourde ( oc, Còth de Pèira Sorda) (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 central

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 ...

on the border of the department of

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's ...

and

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. ...

in France. It is situated on the

D618 Route nationale 618 or RN 618 was a French national road linking Saint-Jean-de-Luz (on the Atlantic Ocean) to Argelès-sur-Mer (on the Mediterranean). En route it crossed many of the famous passes in the Pyrenees, immortalized by the Tour de France ...

road between Bagnères-de-Luchon and

Arreau Arreau (; oc, Àrreu) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. It is situated on the former Route nationale 618, the ''Route of the Pyrénées''. Arreau is at the crossroads of the Louron valley and the Aure val ...

Details of climb

Starting from Bagnères-de-Luchon (east), the Col de Peyresourde is long. Over this distance, the climb is (an average gradient of 6.1%). The steepest sections are 9.8%. No mountain pass cycling milestones for cyclists are placed on this side of the climb. Only close to Bagnères-de-Luchon and 3 kilometres from the summit signposts inform about the overall climb. Starting from Armenteule (west), the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is (an average gradient of 7.6%). On this side mountain pass cycling milestones for cyclists are placed every kilometre. They indicate the current height, the distance to the summit, and the average slope in the following passage. 2015 Peyresourde last two kilometers from Armenteule.jpg, View on the last two kilometres in the climb from Armenteule 2015 Mountain pass cycling milestone - Col de Peyresourde Armenteule.jpg, One of the mountain pass cycling milestones at the climb from Armenteule 2015 Peyresourde summit sign.jpg, Sign at the summit showing that the pass is on the border of the department of

and

Tour de France

The Col de Peyresourde was first used 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 ...

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

and has appeared frequently since. The leader over the summit in 1910 was

Octave Lapize Octave Lapize (; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist. Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kilometres, ...

. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, the Tour de France crossed the Col de Peyresourde on stage 15, joining the climb at Saint-Aventin (5.5 km from Bagnères de Luchon) after descending from the

Port de Balès The Port de Balès (or Col de Balès) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France. It connects the village of Ferrère (to the north) to that of Bourg-d'Oueil, Haute-Garonne (south-eas ...

. This stage was selected for the 2007

L'Étape du Tour L'Étape du Tour de France (also called L'Étape du Tour or just L'Étape) is an organised mass participation cyclosportive that allows amateur cyclists to race over the same route as a Tour de France stage. First held in 1993, and now organised by ...

, in which amateur and club riders ride over a full stage of the tour. The col was crossed twice in 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 ...

, firstly on Stage 16 from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon, when it was ranked a Category 1 climb, and again on the following day, when it was unranked, with the stage continuing on to the ski station at nearby

Peyragudes Peyragudes is a large ski resort in the French Pyrenees, situated in the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Haute-Garonne, in the Region of Occitanie. The resort was created in 1988, when the Peyresourde and Agudes resorts were joined. Skii ...

. It was used again in the

2016 Tour de France The 2016 Tour de France was the 103rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 2 July in Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, and concluding on 24 July with the Champs-Élysées sta ...

Stage 8 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 Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon, which saw eventual race winner

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...

make a daring descent attack from the top of the Col that caught many of his main rivals off guard, resulting in a solo stage victory.

Appearances in Tour de France (since 1947)

References

External links

Complete list of leaders over summit

Col de Peyresourde on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peyresourde Mountain passes of Haute-Garonne Mountain passes of Hautes-Pyrénées Mountain passes of the Pyrenees Climbs in cycle racing in France Occitanie region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia