The high mountains have defined the Tour from the very first time it crossed the Col du Tourmalet in 1910. This year will be the 108th edition of the race and the climbs are as big as ever. Fans will be treated to some classics - like the venerable Mont Ventoux – and some newer additions. Read on to discover the history of these ascents and how they’ll impact this year’s race.
Written by Peter Cossins, journalist and author of A Cyclist’s Guide to the Pyrenees. Photography by Daniel Hughes, content creator and founder of Epic Cols.
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10 Historic Climbs in the Tour de France 2021
Col de la Colombiere, Stage 8
First tackled in 1960, this is one of the Tour’s favourite climbs at the northern end of the French Alps. It has often featured on stages heading for the resort town of Morzine, when it would be the penultimate climbing test before the devilishly hard Col de Joux-Plane. In 1997, Richard Virenque led over the pass as he closed in on his fourth King of the Mountains title, but Marco Pantani ultimately prevailed in Morzine. Three years later, Pantani, having led Lance Armstrong a merry dance through the Alps, was the first to crest the Colombière, but this time it was Virenque who won in Morzine.
More recently, it has been linked with the Col de Romme as part of a challenging finale on stages into Le Grand-Bornand, as is the case this year. The combination of these adjoining passes, with just 6km of descent between them, results in more than 16km of climbing at an average gradient a touch above 8.5%. The last 4km of the Colombière are the toughest, not only because the gradient is close to 10% in this section, but also due to the fact the summit is visible throughout and never seems to get any closer.
Col du Pré, Stage 9
This isn’t among the best known of Alpine passes, but on looks alone it should be. First tackled by the Tour peloton in 2018, this is only the second time it has appeared on the race route and you have to wonder why the organisers favoured the comparatively humdrum main road out of Beaufort towards the Cormet de Roselend pass when this jaw-droppingly beautiful climb offered a much more spectacular option. It’s very hard too, beginning with five easy kilometres of climbing to reach Arêches, then running at more than 9% almost all of the way to the summit.
Having bypassed it for so long, Tour organisers ASO are making up for lost time. It appeared in the 2018 Critérium du Dauphiné stage to La Rosière and again in the Tour a month later when that same resort hosted a stage finish. Warren Barguil was the first to top the Pré in that Tour, with Geraint Thomas emerging as the winner at La Rosière. It featured again in this year’s Dauphiné, when American rider Lawson Craddock was the first to reach this stunning pass.
Cormet de Roselend, Stage 9
This is the 14th occasion that the lofty Cormet de Roselend pass has appeared on the Tour itinerary, although it’s only been climbed a dozen times because it was removed from the penultimate stage of the 2019 Tour following the freak squalls that sent mudslides cascading across many roads in this region. A key road artery between the Beaufortain and Tarentaise valleys and not especially attractive because of that, it has tended to be the first step towards a distant finale. However, since ASO’s discovery of the Col du Pré, the ascent of the Roselend has become an entirely different proposition, the two passes complementing and enhancing each other.
From the Pré, the riders descend for just 2km to reach the dam of the bottom end of the Lac de Roselend, around which they complete a half-circle before the short (5.7km) and not overly testing (6.5%) climb to the Cormet de Roselend. It could be argued that they’ve taken the sting from this pass, but you have to put that aside and drink in the scenery, which is majestic. The 360-degree views include Mont Blanc, the highest peak in western Europe. This is definitely one for your bucket list.
Mont Ventoux, Stage 11
The appearance of the “Giant of Provence” on the Tour route is always a cause for excitement, but even more so this year when for the first time the riders will tackle it on two occasions during a stage. They will come at it first via its easiest, but by far its longest flank from the attractive village of Sault. This ascent has only featured on the Tour once before, back in 1974. Extending to 24.3km but averaging a quite benign 5%, this is always a good option for Ventoux first-timers, the road sashaying through dense woodland for 18km to reach the little ski station at Chalet Reynard, where it joins the classic route up from Bédoin and emerges onto open mountainside, climbing through the Ventoux’s distinctive lunar landscape for the final half dozen kilometres to the masts at the summit.
After descending the western side of the Ventoux to Malaucène, the riders will continue to Bédoin, the springboard for 14 of the Tour’s 18 ascents of this iconic peak. At 15.7km, it’s much shorter than the route from Sault, but with an average gradient of 8.8% it’s far more challenging. From the sweeping Saint-Estève bend at the foot of the climb, the gradient remains north of 9% almost all of the way to Chalet Reynard, stifling heat in the thick forest often adding to its difficulty. Then there’s that final section on the open part of the mountain, where the wind is often fierce and the sun unrelenting, the road passing the monument erected to Britain’s Tom Simpson, who collapsed in the 1967 Tour little more than a kilometre from the summit and later died.
Col de Beixalis, Stage 15
The organisers of the Vuelta a España are always on look-out for super-steep climbs with which they can spice up the route of Spain’s national tour and this tricky ascent from the Andorran town of Encamp has become a particular favourite. It was first included in the Vuelta in 2015, but only after the final 2.5km of gravel road to the summit were resurfaced. It then featured in the Tour stage to Andorra the following season, when Frenchman Thibaut Pinot was the first to the summit.
At 6.4km, it’s not long at all, but the middle section is savagely steep, averaging 11% for 2km and with frequent ramps a good deal more acute than that. From Encamp, the road climbs quite steadily between fields of tobacco to begin with, then turns a sharp right corner, dips very briefly, then takes off through a series of very steep hairpin bends. The gradient eases considerably above these, although that won’t be of much consolation to those riders who’ve struggled through those switchbacks and haven’t been able to follow the pace of their rivals.
The KoM of 19:36 was set by Ineos Grenadiers’ Pavel Sivakov in May this year as he prepared to ride the Giro d’Italia.
Col de Peyresourde, Stage 17
The Peyresourde was the first climb to feature on the Tour’s initial foray into the high mountains during the 1910 edition. It was feared due to the fact that the race had never previously included a pass that rose to well in excess of 1,500 metres and, particularly, because it was part of the so-called “circle of death”, as the linking of the Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque was intimidatingly dubbed. It’s remained one of the race’s favourites, appearing for the 50th time last year when Frenchman Nans Peters led over the top and went on to win the stage that finished at Loudenvielle.
Extending to 13.2km when tackled via its eastern flank from Luchon, it’s not a typically Pyrenean pass because there are no significant changes of gradient. It averages 7% and pretty much stays at that mark for the duration. For the best of the pros, it’s about a 40-minute effort. Its difficulty stems from the fact that it’s almost always included as part of a tightly linked combination, often with the Col d’Aspin or the Hourquette d’Ancizan, but in this case with the Col d’Azet.
Col de Val Louron-Azet, Stage 17
Unlike its near neighbour the Peyresourde, the Col de Val Louron-Azet, generally known as the Col d’Azet, is very Pyrenean in nature. Although only 7.4km long, it rises very quickly to almost 1,600 metres. From the village of Génos at the foot of its eastern flank, it kicks up sharply into woodland, then eases a little until it arrives at the start of a string of hairpins, the gradient averaging 9.5% for the next 3km. As the road emerges from the trees, the angle of attack lessens again, and it climbs through open pasture with magnificent views to the south and east. On clear days, the Peyresourde and Portet passes can be picked out easily from the top of the Azet.
This is only the ninth time it has appeared on the Tour route, the last occasion being in 2018 when it was the second hurdle on the 65km stage from Luchon to the Portet that began with an F1-style grid start. Julian Alaphilippe, who was wearing the red polka-dot jersey as King of the Mountains, led over the Azet. His French compatriot David Gaudu set the KoM of 21:23 for the Azet that day.
Col du Portet, Stage 17
Introduced by the Tour in 2018, the Col du Portet has quickly become one of the great climbs in the Pyrenees. Tour de France race director Thierry Gouvenou rates it the hardest on the French side of the range, and it’s easy to understand why. Extending to 16km, its average is a very imposing 8.7%. Starting in the village of Vignec, just to the west of Saint-Lary-Soulan, it rises sharply from the off, running for more than a kilometre to the first hairpin bend, where a plaque on the corner remembers the moment in the 1974 Tour when the then 38-year-old Frenchman Raymond Poulidor attacked yellow jersey Eddy Merckx and rode away to a hugely acclaimed victory at Pla d’Adet.
As it heads towards that ski station, the road remains fearsomely steep, the gradient only easing after 7km of hard climbing at Espiaube, where a left turn goes towards Pla d’Adet and the right turn makes for the Col du Portet. The road soon narrows and climbs through a tightly stacked run of hairpins, the gradient changing frequently, one moment rearing to 15%, then easing, then kicking up again. Above these hairpins, the road runs straighter and a touch more evenly until the final kilometre, where it the road rises sharply again to reach the ski lifts at the pass.
It’s little surprise that victory in 2018 went to a pure climber like Nairo Quintana. Steven Kruijsiwijk set the KoM that day, recording a time of 50:26.
Col du Tourmalet, Stage 18
There’s no disputing the fact that the Tourmalet is the Tour’s favourite climb. This is the 88th time it has featured on the race route. On this occasion, the riders will be tackling it from the east via the village of Sainte-Campan-de-Campan, where, in 1913, Eugène Christophe famously fixed his broken front fork in the blacksmith’s forge having carried his bike for 10km down the Tourmalet.
It begins quite benignly, the gradient rarely reaching 6% in the opening 5km of the 17.1km pass. Above Gripp, however, the road steepens considerably and doesn’t ease until the crest finally arrives. The toughest section comes on the approach the resort of La Mongie, the gradient averaging 9.5% for 4km. The grind continues above the ski station, the road clambering towards the pass via sweeping hairpins to the 2,115-metre-high pass, where there’s a sculpture of Octave Lapize, the first rider to conquer the Tourmalet on its inaugural appearance in the 1910 Tour, and a memorial to Jacques Goddet, the Tour’s director between 1936 and 1987.
Frenchman David Gaudu set the KoM of 50:35 when the Tour went over the pass in 2018.
Luz Ardiden, Stage 18
The beautiful road to Luz Ardiden is appearing for the ninth time on the Tour route. It first featured in 1985, when Pedro Delgado was the stage winner, but the critical action was taking place behind the Spanish climber. Hampered by injuries sustained in a crash a few days before, race leader Bernard Hinault struggled to stay with the pace of his rivals. Luckily for the Frenchman, the most sprightly of them was his teammate Greg LeMond and Hinault survived. It’s also the climb where, in 2003, Lance Armstrong clipped a fan at the roadside and crashed, taking Iban Mayo down with him.
This 13.3km climb on which the gradient averages 7.4% begins quite sedately, rising through the woods above the thermal baths at Luz-Saint-Sauveur. The road steepens considerably going into the village of Grust, where a long run of hairpin bends begins. Climbing through the trees initially, these switchbacks soon reach more open terrain, where there’s a magnificent natural arena, the steep banks between the switchbacks enabling spectators to see the riders when they’re still 3-4km distant. These final kilometres run a little easier than the climb’s average to reach the little ski station at the summit.
