Col du Télégraphe is a
mountain pass in the French
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, ...
situated above the
Maurienne
Maurienne ( frp, Môrièna) 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 Maur ...
valley between the eastern end of the
massif d'Arvan-Villards and the
massif des Cerces.
The pass links
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (, literally ''Saint-Michel of Maurienne''; frp, Sin Mestyé) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.
Geography Climate
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne has a oc ...
to the north and
Valloire 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 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 ...
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 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 consist ...
, and is thus popular with cyclists.
Details of the climb

From the north, starting at
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (, literally ''Saint-Michel of Maurienne''; frp, Sin Mestyé) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.
Geography Climate
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne has a oc ...
, 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 t ...
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
Valloire 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
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 consist ...
in
1911; the first rider over the summit was
Emile Georget
Emil or Emile may refer to:
Literature
*''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life
*''Emil and the Detective ...
.
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 p ...
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)
See also
*
Fort du Télégraphe
The Fort du Télégraphe, or Fort Berwick, is located in the Maurienne valley on the road to the Col du Galibier between Valloire and Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, at the Col du Télégraphe, dominating the valley of the Arc. The location at an alti ...
, the fortification at the crest of the pass, the location of the semaphore station that gave the pass its name
*
Souvenir Henri Desgrange
The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is an award and cash prize given in the yearly running of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. It is won by the rider that crosses a particular point in the race, mostly the summits of the highest a ...
External links
Profile on climbbybike.comCol 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