Col du Tourmalet
Luz Saint Sauveur, France
The Col du Tourmalet is a col with a length of 18.4 kilometer. This is a highest category (HC) col. It is located in Luz Saint Sauveur, Midi-Pyrénées, France. The average grade of this col is 7.6% with a maximum of 10.2%. The Col du Tourmalet ascents from 730 meter at the start, to 2.115 meter at the top, with a total of 1.385 ascending meters.
Profile
Facts
| Distance | 18.4 km |
| Elevation gain | 1385 m |
| Average grade | 7.6 % |
| Maximum grade | 10.2 % |
| Climb category | HC |
| Minimum elevation | 730 m |
| Maximum elevation | 2115 m |
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Description
La voie Laurent Fignon version of the climb.
Some Frenchmen believe that Tourmalet translates into "bad trip" or "bad detour" because in French Tour translates into "trip" and mal translates into "bad"; however, the correct language to translate from is Gascon, not French, because of the mountain's location in the Gascony-region and the "du" in the name, which is the Gascon pendant to the French "de". Then Tour becomes "distance", which is spelled "tur" but pronounced "tour", mal is translated into "mountain", and it becomes "the". The translation from Gascon to English then becomes "The Distance Mountain".
The Col du Tourmalet is one of the most famous climbs on the Tour de France. It has been included more than any other pass, starting in 1910, when the Pyrenees were introduced. The first rider over was Octave Lapize, who went on to win the general classification in Paris. In 1913, Eugène Christophe broke his fork on the Tourmalet and repaired it himself at a forge in Sainte-Marie-de-Campan.
Up to 2019, the Tour has visited the Col du Tourmalet a total of 87 times. The total includes three stage finishes at the summit and three at La Mongie. Since 1980 it has been ranked hors catégorie, or exceptional. The Vuelta a España has also crossed the pass several times.
This is the old route of the climb used until 2011. Now it is a route dedicated to cyclists in homage to the winner of the Tour de France and Haut-Pyrénéen by adoption who died in August 2010.
- Tour de France 1913
- Tour de France 1914
- Tour de France 1919
- Tour de France 1920
- Tour de France 1921
- Tour de France 1923
- Tour de France 1924
- Tour de France 1925
- Tour de France 1926
- Tour de France 1927
- Tour de France 1928
- Tour de France 1929
- Tour de France 1930
- Tour de France 1931
- Tour de France 1932
- Tour de France 1938
- Tour de France 1939
- Tour de France 1948
- Tour de France 1949
- Tour de France 1950
- Tour de France 1951
- Tour de France 1953
- Tour de France 1954
- Tour de France 1959
- Tour de France 1960
- Tour de France 1962
- Tour de France 1963
- Tour de France 1965 - Stage 9
- Tour de France 1968
- Tour de France 1972
- Tour de France 1974
- Tour de France 1975
- Tour de France 1978
- Tour de France 1980
- Tour de France 1983
- Tour de France 1986
- Tour de France 1997
- Tour de France 1998
- Tour de France 2006
- Tour de France 2010