Col du Télégraphe 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 French

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

situated above the

Maurienne Maurienne (; ; ) is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Location The Maurienne val ...

valley between the eastern end of the massif d'Arvan-Villards and the

massif des Cerces Massif des Cerces () is a region of the French Alps on the France–Italy border, Franco-Italian border. On the French side it lies in the Departments of France, departments of Hautes-Alpes and Savoie. The massif consists of smaller mountain cha ...

. The pass links

Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (, literally ''Saint-Michel of Maurienne''; ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Geography Climate Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne has an oceanic climate (Köp ...

to the north and

Valloire Valloire (; , ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The ski resort Valloire-Galibier is located in the commune, at the foot of the Col du Télégraphe and next to the ski resort ...

to the south, as well as forming an access point to the

col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the France, French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth List of highest paved roads in Europe, highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the List of highe ...

via its north face. The route is often used during the ascent to Col du Galibier 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 ...

, and is thus popular with cyclists.

Details of the climb

2015 Mountain pass cycling milestone - Telegraphe from Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne

From the north, starting at

, the climb is long, gaining in height (an average of 7.3%). The maximum gradient is 9.8% at the summit. On this side

mountain pass cycling milestones Mountain pass cycling milestones are signposts that provide cyclists with information about their current position with regard to the summit of the mountain pass. They always provide information for cyclists going uphill. Sometimes the signs are two ...

are placed every kilometre. They indicate the current height, the distance to the summit, the average slope in the following kilometre, and the number of the street. As of July 2015, some milestones are missing in the middle part of the climb. From the south, the climb starts at

and is long at an average gradient of 3.4% (height gain: ).

The Tour de France

The Col du Télégraphe was first used in the

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

; the first rider over the summit was

Emile Georget Emile or Émile may refer to: * Émile (novel) (1827), autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life * Emile, Canadian film made in 2003 by Carl Bessai * '' Emile: or, On Education'' (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a treatise o ...

. Since 1947, the Col du Télégraphe has been crossed 29 times by the Tour de France. On several of those occasions it has not been ranked for points in the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest ...

competition, being treated as part of the descent from the Col du Galibier, and has been ranked for points only 18 times.

Appearances in the Tour de France (since 1947)

External links

Profile on climbbybike.com

Col du Télégraphe on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telegraphe Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Landforms of Savoie Transport in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Details of the climb

The Tour de France

Appearances in the Tour de France (since 1947)

See also

External links