The Col de Portet d'Aspet (elevation ) is a
mountain pass
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...
in the central
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
in the department of
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...
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
Aspet
''Aspet'' (; , ''Aspetes'' in contemporary Greek) was a hereditary military title of the Armenian nobility, usually found within the Bagratuni family. Toumanoff, Cyril (1963), ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History III'', pp. 202, 324-26. Geor ...
and
Saint-Girons and connects the Ger and Bouigane valleys, on the slopes of the
Pic de Paloumère ().
Details of climb
Starting from
Audressein
Audressein (; ) is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.
Geography
Audressein is situated on the former Route nationale 618, the "Route of the Pyrenees", at the start of the climb to the Col d ...
, in
Ariège, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is at an average gradient of 3.1%. The climb proper starts at
Saint-Lary, and from the summit (at 6.8%), with the steepest sections being at 10.6% near the summit.
Starting from
Aspet
''Aspet'' (; , ''Aspetes'' in contemporary Greek) was a hereditary military title of the Armenian nobility, usually found within the Bagratuni family. Toumanoff, Cyril (1963), ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History III'', pp. 202, 324-26. Geor ...
, in
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...
, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is at an average gradient of 4.2%. The climb proper starts at the D618/D44 junction (also the start of the climb to the
Col de Menté
The Col de Menté (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees in the department of Haute-Garonne in France. It is situated on the D44 road between Saint-Béat and the D618 (at the bottom of the Col de Portet d'Aspet) and connects t ...
), / from the summit (at 9.6%), with several sections in excess of 11%; the maximum gradient is 12.8%, from the summit.
Appearances in Tour de France
The Col de Portet d'Aspet was first used in the
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
in
1910
Events
January
* January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military.
* January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...
and has appeared regularly since. The leader over the summit in 1910 was
Octave Lapize
Octave Lapize (; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional Bicycle road racing, road racing cyclist and track cycling, track cyclist.
Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France, 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal a ...
.
Since 1947, the Col has featured 36 times including on
stage 15 of the
2024 race.
In the
1973 tour Raymond Poulidor
Raymond Poulidor (; 15 April 1936 – 13 November 2019), nicknamed "Pou-Pou" (), was a French professional road bicycle racing, racing cyclist, who rode for his entire career.
His distinguished career coincided with two other outstanding ride ...
almost died on the descent from the Portet d'Aspet when he plunged off the road into a ravine, taking a serious blow to the head and crawling out with the help of the race director,
Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet (; 21 June 1905 – 15 December 2000) was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France road cycling race from 1936 to 1986.
Goddet was born and died in Paris. His father, Victor Goddet, was co-founder and finance ...
.
Fabio Casartelli
On 18 July 1995, during the fifteenth stage of the
1995 Tour de France
The 1995 Tour de France was the 82nd Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 23 July. It was Miguel Induráin's fifth and final victory in the Tour. On the fifteenth stage Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after an accident on the Col de Portet ...
,
Fabio Casartelli and a few other riders crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet. Casartelli sustained heavy facial and head injuries and lost consciousness. While being transported via helicopter to a local hospital, he stopped breathing and after numerous resuscitation attempts was declared dead. The Société du Tour de France and the
Motorola team placed a memorial stone dedication to Casartelli on the spot where he crashed.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Camping on topCol de Portet d'Aspet on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portet D'Aspet, Col de
Mountain passes of Haute-Garonne
Mountain passes of the Pyrenees
Climbs in cycle racing in France