From the time I was about 8 years old, we are talking about the year 1992, I sat during the Tour de France hours glued to the television. The mountain stages in particular were a must-see. In the Alps were the resounding names of Alpe d'Huez, Galibier and Croix-de-Fer. Long runners, which could still be viciously painful at times. The Pyrenees was also stunning. Rougher, often less high, but more pain for the riders. Col du Tourmalet. A name couldn't be more beautiful. The Portet d'Aspet is also forever etched in my memory. Not for the right reason. I had a fondness for those mountain stages. It also played into it that my childhood hero, Richard Virenque, showed himself well there. Brilliant rider and a master crook all in one. But weren't they all? Almost everyone knows the Alpine cols, but the Pyrenees are often underexposed. Therefore a nice list of 5x mythical cols in the Pyrenees that you really must have climbed
By: Sander Kolsloot
1. Col du Tourmalet
If any mountain is synonymous with my touring experience, it is this one. Just because of the name, Tourmalet. It's so easy on the palate. The nickname 'the terrible mountain' does apply. It hurts the legs so much. Whichever side you choose, they are about the same length (17 to 18 kilometres), equally steep (7.4%) but the west side is a lot more irregular. That climb starts from Luz-Saint-Saveur and fluctuates between 4 and 7 % with outliers to 12! It is also often terribly hot there and you climb to 2115 metres altitude.
Col du Tourmalet, Luz Saint Sauveur, France
- Distance: 18.4 km, Elevation: 1385 m, Avg. Grade: 7.6 %
This climb has been in the Tour de France 84 times and many times as a finish. In recent years, the climb was only in 2020 and in 2017 absent in La Grande Boucle. And in 2020, the mythical mountain was supposed to be included in the Vuelta but due to measures around COVID-19 at the time, it was scrapped. Eternal shame. My childhood hero Virenque came out victorious twice (in 1993-1994). I love this climb.
2. Col du Aubisque
You must have done this climb once. The summit is not too high, at 1709 metres, but it is almost 20 kilometres of stumbling at 7%. At least, if you drive up the right way (from Lauruns). The other variant is even longer, but less challenging. With 10 kilometres to go to the top, this becomes a regular climb, but quite steep.
Here is also a nice piece of Dutch cycling history. In the recent past, Robert Gesink raised his hands in the air at the summit, during the 2016 Vuelta. In the Tour de France, we have to go back a bit further, to 1977 when Hennie Kuiper triumphed here. What I always got in my youth is the name Wim van Est. I was once photographed with him, just before his death, during the Acht van Chaam. He wasn't wearing a Pontiac, or at least I didn't see that. But the story of his fall in the yellow jersey into the ravine has stayed with me. And where was that ravine? Right. On the Aubisque (or well, next to it)
3. Col de Peyresourde
The Peyresourde from Bagneres de Luchon is perhaps the classic in combination with the Tourmalet. It is in the Tour almost every year and anyone who sat in front of the tube in 2016 will remember that Chris Froome came out victorious here. If only because of his attack on the descent towards the climb. Supertuck and kicking! Unprecedented. You don't often see the Dutch in the victor lists, yet mountain king Steven Rooks was best here once. That was in 1988, though.
Col de Peyresourde, Bagnères De Luchon, France
- Distance: 14.3 km, Elevation: 891 m, Avg. Grade: 6.3 %
Ideal to combine it with a bonus climb, the Superbagneres. Back to the Peyresourde. 14 kilometres at 6.8% with peaks to 12% are guaranteed to hurt. Irregularity is the code word here which the altitude profile does reflect. Advantage of this climb: it is not very high (1569m at the summit) and you have a magnificent view of the mountains around you. In addition, the relatively low summit makes it possible to climb this col early in the season. Check!
4. Hautacam
Your mouth falls open at the images of the Hautacam. What a magnificent climb. For me, there is also another memory. Because in 1996, Bjarne Riis was the revelation of the Tour. On Hautacam, 'monsieur soixante' was so strong (we now know why) that he did an Armstrong move avant la lettre. He dropped into the breakaway, took a look at how everyone else was doing and then puffed them all home. Riis also had a lot to do with Hautacam in a later Tour. For when Andy Schleck was just a second short of Cadel Evans in 2008, Bjarne was in the Team CSC team car (of Schleck).
Hautacam, Ayros Arbouix, France
- Distance: 13.2 km, Elevation: 1009 m, Avg. Grade: 7.6 %
The climb is, as it is so nicely called, 'brutal'. 7.8% average is not a world record, but again, irregularity is the culprit. In the first kilometres, it sometimes varies from four to 10 per cent. Then it drops to seven per cent for a while and then it's ten per cent again. That irregularity saps you. Many pros will agree.
The climb has not been in the tour circuit for very long, but its already mythical arrivals and severity mean it really belongs in this list. And with winners such as Nibali, Piepoli, Riis and Otxoa, there are also some nice names on the list of honours. The ladies rode not up here yet. Perhaps in 2025?
5. Portet d'Aspet
The Portet d'Aspet. Fabio's climb. No, not Aru and certainly not Jakobsen either. Forever etched in my memory are the images of that one Motorola rider, by that concrete pole. Lying in a foetal position. It was 1995, I was only 11. Young still, but I could see this. That one wasn't going to wake up. My other cycling love, Lance Armstrong, won a stage two days later in that Tour ahead of his late teammate Fabio Casartelli. What emotion and what an incredible story. However, it took years before all riders entered the descent with helmets. Now that is incredible.
The climb itself is not necessarily tough or painful. The hardest variant is only 5.8% in ten kilometres of length. But it's all about the story of that descent. Therefore, stop at Fabio's monument too. That's the best thing you can do as an amateur for a while. Pay a silent salute to the 1992 Olympic Champion.
Bonus climb: Superbagneres
There are many bonus climbs to think of. These include Port de Bales (long suffering), Luz Ardiden (stunning hairpin turns) or Plateau de Beille. But Superbagneres is not only a climb you can do well from Bagneres-de-Luchon, it is also a super beautiful climb (isn't it super?).
You may be fooled for a while, as the average gradient is 'only' 6.2%. However, this is mainly because of the relatively flat initial kilometres. After that, it hurts and is tough. Almost 18 kilometres uphill, over 1160 metres difference in altitude. And again and again irregular sections in seemingly 'flat' kilometres. The road is quite open, so you have nice, wide views. The only really ugly thing is the ski station on top. But you won't take much notice of that after this climb. So you have 5x mythical cols in the Pyrenees with another bonus climb on top!
What is your favourite Pyrenean col?
Superbagneres, Bagnères De Luchon, France
- Distance: 14.2 km, Elevation: 972 m, Avg. Grade: 6.8 %
