The Col de Peyresourde ( oc, Còth de Pèira Sorda) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the central
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
on the border of the department of
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...
Bagnères-de-Luchon
Bagnères-de-Luchon (; oc, Banhèras de Luishon), also referred to as just Luchon, is a commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Luchon ...
Bagnères-de-Luchon
Bagnères-de-Luchon (; oc, Banhèras de Luishon), also referred to as just Luchon, is a commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Luchon ...
(east), the Col de Peyresourde is long. Over this distance, the climb is (an average gradient of 6.1%). The steepest sections are 9.8%. No mountain pass cycling milestones for cyclists are placed on this side of the climb. Only close to
Bagnères-de-Luchon
Bagnères-de-Luchon (; oc, Banhèras de Luishon), also referred to as just Luchon, is a commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Luchon ...
and 3 kilometres from the summit signposts inform about the overall climb.
Starting from
Armenteule
Armenteule (; oc, Armentèula) is a former commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the commune of Loudenvielle.mountain pass cycling milestones for cyclists are placed every kilometre. They indicate the current height, the distance to the summit, and the average slope in the following passage.
2015 Peyresourde last two kilometers from Armenteule.jpg, View on the last two kilometres in the climb from Armenteule
2015 Mountain pass cycling milestone - Col de Peyresourde Armenteule.jpg, One of the mountain pass cycling milestones at the climb from Armenteule
2015 Peyresourde summit sign.jpg, Sign at the summit showing that the pass is on the border of the department of
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...
in
1910
Events
January
* January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...
and has appeared frequently since. The leader over the summit in 1910 was Octave Lapize.
In
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...
, the Tour de France crossed the Col de Peyresourde on stage 15, joining the climb at Saint-Aventin (5.5 km from Bagnères de Luchon) after descending from the Port de Balès. This stage was selected for the 2007 L'Étape du Tour, in which amateur and club riders ride over a full stage of the tour.
The col was crossed twice in the
2012 Tour de France
The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 22 July. The Tour consisted of 21 stages, ...
Bagnères-de-Luchon
Bagnères-de-Luchon (; oc, Banhèras de Luishon), also referred to as just Luchon, is a commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Luchon ...
, when it was ranked a Category 1 climb, and again on the following day, when it was unranked, with the stage continuing on to the ski station at nearby
Peyragudes
Peyragudes is a large ski resort in the French Pyrenees, situated in the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Haute-Garonne, in the Region of Occitanie.
The resort was created in 1988, when the Peyresourde and Agudes resorts were joined.
Skiin ...
. It was used again in the
2016 Tour de France
The 2016 Tour de France was the 103rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 2 July in Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, and concluding on 24 July with the Champs-Élysées ...
on
Stage 8
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* S ...
, from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon, which saw eventual race winner
Chris Froome
Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...
make a daring descent attack from the top of the Col that caught many of his main rivals off guard, resulting in a solo stage victory.