Col d'Allos (elevation ) is a high

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

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. ...

in the department of

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It connects

Barcelonnette Barcelonnette (; , also ; obsolete ) is a Communes of France, commune of France and a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Departments of France, department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is l ...

in the

Ubaye Valley The Ubaye Valley is an area in the Alpes de Haute-Provence ''département'', in the French Alps, having approximately 7,700 residents. Its residents are called ''Ubayens''. Its principal town is the ''sous-préfecture'' of Barcelonnette. 350px, A ...

and

Colmars Colmars (; ) or Colmars-les-Alpes () is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. The official name of the commune, according to the geographical code of the INSEE, is "Colmars",Col de la Cayolle Col de la Cayolle (el. 2,326 m) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps at the border between the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Saint-Martin-d'Entraun ...

and

Col de la Bonette Col de la Bonette (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps, near the border with Italy. It is situated within the Mercantour National Park on the border of the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The road over t ...

west of the

Parc National du Mercantour Mercantour National Park () a List of national parks of France, French national park located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, departments. Since it was created in 1979, the park has proven popular, with 80 ...

. The source of the

Verdon River The Verdon (, ) is a river in Southeastern France, left tributary of the Durance. Its drainage basin is .

is near the pass. Between 1911 and 1939, the Col d'Allos barely missed a year 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 ...

(one of the most popular cols).

François Faber François Faber (; 26 January 1887 – 9 May 1915) was a Luxembourgish racing cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands. He died in ...

was the first rider to cross the pass in

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 ...

and since then, it has been part of the route 33 times. It was last part of the 2000 Tour, (13th stage) when

Pascal Hervé Pascal Hervé (13 July 1964 – 24 December 2024) was a French road racing cyclist. He competed in the individual road race at the 1992 Summer Olympics and raced as a professional from 1994 to 2001. At the time of his death Pascal resided in ...

was the first to summit, in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

the mountain was again visited by Tour de France at Stage 17 this was won by

Simon Geschke Simon Geschke (born 13 March 1986) is a German former road cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2009 to 2024. Career In the 2015 Tour de France, Geschke won a mountain stage as he was part of the breakaway and soloed across the line in P ...

.

Currently closed due to road works!! Planning is to open before summer 2025.

Details of the climb

The northern side from

Barcelonette Barcelonnette (; , also ; obsolete ) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the southern French Alps, at the crossroads between Prove ...

is 17.5 km long, climbing at an average of 6.3%. Starting from

Colmars Colmars (; ) or Colmars-les-Alpes () is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. The official name of the commune, according to the geographical code of the INSEE, is "Colmars",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 approximately every kilometre. They indicate the current height, the distance to the summit, the average slope in the following passage, as well as the number of the street (D908).

Bicycle tourism

Together with the

Col des Champs Col des Champs (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the Alps at the border between the departments of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes in France. It connects Saint-Martin-d'Entraunes and Colmars, joining the valleys of the Var Riv ...

and the

Col de la Cayolle Col de la Cayolle (el. 2,326 m) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps at the border between the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Saint-Martin-d'Entraun ...

it forms part of a popular round trip for cyclists (see for example ). In July and August the Col d'Allos is reserved for bicycles on Friday mornings (8am-11am).

References

External links

d´Allos (Col d´Allos) - Tour Facts
(French)
Col d'Allos on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)Cycling up to the Col d'Allos: data, profile, map, photos and description

Landforms of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Transport in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur {{AlpesHauteProvence-geo-stub

Details of the climb

Bicycle tourism

See also

References

External links