Col de Port (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the French

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 ...

between Massat and

Tarascon-sur-Ariège Tarascon-sur-Ariège (, literally ''Tarascon on Ariège''; Languedocien: ''Tarascon d’Arièja'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Tarascon-sur-Ariège station has rail connections to Toulouse, Foix and Latou ...

in the "massif de l'Arize". It links the Couserans and Ariège valleys. The pass is used occasionally in the

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 ...

and is popular with touring cyclists. The name of the pass is tautological as ''Col'' means ''pass'' in French and ''Port'' means

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland *Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a mount ...

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; ...

Details of the climb

Starting from the D8/D618 junction, (Tarascon-sur-Ariège) (east) the Col de Port is long. Over this distance, the climb is (an average gradient of 4.6%). The steepest section is 9.2%. Starting from Massat, (west) the Col de Port is long. Over this distance, the climb is (an average gradient of 4.7%). From Massat, the D18 to the south links with the route from Aulus-les-Bains and

Vicdessos Vicdessos is a former commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Val-de-Sos.Col d'Agnes The Col d'Agnes (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the French Pyrenees in the department of Ariège, between the communities of Aulus-les-Bains (west), Massat (north) and Vicdessos (east). Details of climb Starting from Aulus-les-Bains, the cl ...

() and the Port de Lers ().

Tour de France

The Col de Port was first used in the Tour de France in 1910. The first cyclist over the summit was

Octave Lapize Octave Lapize (; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist. Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kilometres, h ...

Appearances in the Tour de France (since 1947)

The Tour de France has crossed the summit 11 times since 1947, including on stage 16 of the 2021 tour. The 15th stage was selected for the 2007

L'Étape du Tour L'Étape du Tour de France (also called L'Étape du Tour or just L'Étape) is an organised mass participation cyclosportive that allows amateur cyclists to race over the same route as a Tour de France stage. First held in 1993, and now organised by ...

, in which amateur and club riders ride over a full stage of the tour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Port Mountain passes of Ariège (department) Mountain passes of the Pyrenees Transport in Occitania (administrative region)