Col du Grand Colombier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the

Jura mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

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 ...

. This pass lies at the southern extremity of the Jura in the massif of the Grand Colombier. With the Col du Chasseral, it is the highest road pass in the Jura. It passes between the Grand Colombier (el. ) and the Croix du Colombier (), which is accessible by trail from the pass. The view from the summit is superb, either down the valley of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

, the

Lac du Bourget Lac du Bourget (; English Lake Bourget), also locally known as Lac Gris (; ) or Lac d'Aix (), is a lake at the southernmost end of the Jura Mountains in the department of Savoie, France. It is the deepest lake located entirely within France, and ...

and the gorges of Val-de-Fier, or the distant peaks of 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. ...

Cycle racing

It is one of the most difficult passes in France, with stretches in excess of 20% on the climb from Artemare via

Virieu-le-Petit Virieu-le-Petit (; ) is a former commune in the Ain department in eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Arvière-en-Valromey.Bugey The Bugey (, ; Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the department of Ain, eastern France, located between Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saôn ...

(western) side. The pass has seen frequent use in

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

, being a regular feature of the

Tour de l'Ain Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional cycling stage race held in eastern France. G.P. de l'Amitié The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.). It was held over f ...

and also used in the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycle sport, cycling road bicycle racing, road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during ...

and

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

. From

Culoz Culoz ( or ) is a former commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. On 1 January 2023, it was merged into the new commune of Culoz-Béon. Geography The town, which is situated on the right bank of the Rive ...

(south), the ascent is long, gaining in elevation at an average gradient of 6.9%, but with some sections at 12%. This climb is the direction used on

Stage 5 The Walnut Valley Festival is an acoustic music festival held annually in the small city of Winfield, Kansas, United States. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but a wide variety of other acoustic styles are represented. The festival is held ...

of the

2012 Critérium du Dauphiné The 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné was the 64th running of the Critérium du Dauphiné cycling stage race; a race rated as a UCI World Tour, World Tour event on the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI calendar, the highest classification such an event ...

and Stage 10 of the

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs ...

. The Col can also be reached from Anglefort (east), from where it is in length, climbing at an average grade of 7.9%.

Tour de France

It was visited by 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 ...

for the first time on Stage 10 of the 2012 Tour as a

Hors Catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is th ...

climb. The leader over the summit was

Thomas Voeckler Thomas Voeckler (; born 22 June 1979) is a French former road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for the team and its previous iterations. One of the most prominent French riders of his gener ...

, who went on to take the stage victory in

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (, literally ''Bellegarde on Valserine''; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. On 1 January 2019, ...

. Stage 15 of the 2020 Tour finished atop the pass. The stage was won by Tadej Pogacar, the eventual

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

winner of that year's race. It returned on stage 13 of the

2023 Tour de France The 2023 Tour de France was the 110th edition of the Tour de France. It started in Bilbao, Spain, on 1 July and ended with the final stage at Champs-Élysées, Paris, on 23 July. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard () won the General classifica ...

as a finish atop the mountain.

References

External links

Le col du Grand Colombier dans le Tour de France

Details for each of the four climbs

Tour de France Stage 10 video preview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Colmbier, Col du Mountain passes of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mountain passes of the Jura Landforms of Ain