The Col de la Loze is a mountain pass in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...

, with an elevation of . A path up the mountain was opened in May 2019, and is the seventh-highest

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 France. The ascent featured in the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and 2023 Tours de France, as well as in the

2019 Tour de l'Avenir The 2019 Tour de l'Avenir was the 56th edition of the Tour de l'Avenir, a UCI 2.NCup stage race for riders aged 23 or younger. The race consisted of 10 stages. It started on 15 August in Marmande and concluded on 25 August in La Corbière, ...

Geography

Col de la Loze is in

Les Trois Vallées Les Trois Vallées (; "The Three Valleys") is a ski region in the Tarentaise Valley in the Savoie department of Southeastern France, to the south of the town of Moûtiers, partly in Vanoise National Park. Since 1971, it has been possible to sk ...

, at an elevation of . From Col de la Loze, one can ski to the nearby

La Tania La Tania is a ski resort situated in the Courchevel area of Les Trois Vallees, located at an elevation of 1400 meters. It was developed for the Albertville Olympics of 1992 and is approximately a 25-minute drive from Moûtiers. Overview The ski ...

, and

Le Praz Le Praz is a village located on a plateau at the foot of the forest in Courchevel, Savoie, France, at the foot of Dent du Villard and Grand Bec. It features the ski jumping hill Tremplin du Praz, built for the 1992 Winter Olympics and used annual ...

. By

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

, one can get from Col de la Loze to

Courchevel Courchevel () is a French Alps ski resort located in the Tarentaise Valley. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Co ...

and

Méribel Méribel () is a ski resort in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps. Méribel refers to three neighbouring villages in the Les Allues commune of the Savoie department of France, near the town of Moûtiers (), called Méribel Centre, Méribe ...

, and by

button lift A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, or ...

, one can get to La Tania. From Col de la Loze, one can also cycle to . A path up the Col de la Loze was built in 2018 and was officially opened on 12 May 2019. On the official opening day, there was still snow on the mountain, and it was the first French mountain pass to be cleared of snow. Motor vehicles are not permitted on the path. The path is paved on the side toward Courchevel. The path links Col de la Loze to Courchevel, and in 2020 was paved on the side to Méribel. There are future plans to continue the path to

Val Thorens Val Thorens () is a ski town in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps at an altitude of . It is located in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the Savoie department. The resort forms part of the Les Trois Vallées ski area which, ...

. It is the seventh-highest

in France, and the third-highest mountain pass in the

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

region.

Cycling

While there are multiple routes to get to the Col de la Loze, the climb through Meribel is the most notorious, and at 14.1 FIETS is the hardest bike climb in France. The climb averages a 7.5% gradient for gaining nearly 1700 metres. On 12 May 2019, the Col de la Loze held the Eiffage

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

event to commemorate its opening. There were 2 races: one over a distance of , and one over a shorter distance of . The first professional cycle race to ascend to Col de la Loze was stage 8 of the

. The stage was won by Australia's Alexander Evans.

Appearances in Tour de France

Col de la Loze was the summit finish for stage 17 of the

2020 Tour de France The 2020 Tour de France was the 107th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. Originally scheduled to start on 27 June 2020, it was postponed until 29 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The race began ...

, which was won by Colombian rider Miguel Ángel López. The stage included an ascent of the

Col de la Madeleine Col de la Madeleine (el. 1,993 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Savoie in France which connects La Chambre in Maurienne with La Léchère in Tarentaise. The pass is closed from November to the beginning of June. It ...

, which was not in the Tour de l'Avenir stage. The climb up to Col de la Loze was long, with an average

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

of 7.5% and a maximum gradient of 24%. The route followed the former path of a ski lift access road used by mechanics. The ascent started in Brides-les-Bains and passed through Méribel, before turning onto the new path up to Col de la Loze. The finish point was the highest point of the 2020 Tour. Col de la Loze was one of two new summit finishes at the Tour, the other one being Grand Colombier. It featured again in the 2023 edition, with the finish taking place at the

Courchevel Altiport Courchevel Altiport () is an altiport serving Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps. The airfield has a very short runway of only with a gradient of 18.6%.

, and will next feature in the

2025 Tour de France The 2025 Tour de France is the upcoming 112th edition of the Tour de France. It will start in Lille on 5 July, and will finish with the final stage at Champs-Élysées, Paris, on 27 July. Teams Twenty-three teams will take part in the race. A ...

References

{{reflist Ski areas and resorts in France Tourist attractions in Savoie Mountain passes of the Alps Climbs in cycle racing in France