Hautacam is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

in the French

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. It is situated in the

Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/ Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs ; alts piɾiˈneʊs ) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. The department is bordered by Pyrénées-Atlantiques to t ...

department, in the

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

region. In

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

, the ascent to Hautacam is known as a difficult climb, which is used occasionally 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 ...

Cycle racing

Details of climb

Starting from

Argelès-Gazost Argelès-Gazost (; ) is a commune and a subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. The Pyrénées Animal Park is located in Argelès-Gazost. Population Climate See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées de ...

, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb gains in altitude to the top of the climb at , at an average gradient of 6.8%. The stage finishes of the Tour de France in 2008 and 2014 were at an altitude of and in previous races were at . The climb used by the Tour de France starts at

Ayros-Arbouix Ayros-Arbouix (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region of south-western France. Geography Ayros-Arbouix is part of the Pyrénées N ...

, from where there is to the finish, climbing , at an average gradient of 7.8%.

Tour de France

Hautacam first held a

stage in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, won by

Luc Leblanc Luc Leblanc (; born 4 August 1966) is a French former professional road cyclist. He became a World Road Champion in 1994. Biography In 1978, a drunk driver hit Luc Leblanc, aged 11, and his younger brother Gilles Leblanc, aged 8. Gilles died af ...

. Since then, it has been used a further five times, including the final mountain stage of the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

race. During the

1996 Tour de France The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd edition of the Tour de France, starting on 29 June and ending on 21 July, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day (10 July). It was won by Danish rider Bjarne Riis. Th ...

the reign of five time champion

Miguel Indurain --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

effectively came to an end when

Bjarne Riis Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (; born 3 April 1964), nicknamed ''The Eagle from Herning'' (), is a Denmark, Danish former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and later manager of the Oleg Tink ...

launched an attack on Hautacam, claiming the stage victory and putting himself in position to win the Tour which he eventually would. It was on the climb to Hautacam that

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

set up his victory in the

2000 Tour de France The 2000 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 1 to 23 July, and the 87th edition of the Tour de France. There was no overall winner following a vacating of results by the United States Anti-Doping Agency announcement on 24 ...

, until being disqualified for doping. In appalling weather, the race arrived at the first mountain stage, with

Javier Otxoa Javier Otxoa Palacios (30 August 1974 – 24 August 2018) was a Spanish cyclist who was a member of the Kelme cycling team. His name was sometimes spelled Javier Ochoa in media reports. Road cycling career In 2000 Otxoa won a mountain stage ...

the only survivor from an early break. On the final climb, Armstrong went off alone into the wind and rain leaving his challengers struggling, pushing

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...

into second place by four minutes. Once Armstrong had taken the

Maillot Jaune The maillot (; ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 3rd Ed. (2003)) is the fashion designer's name for a woman's one-piece swimsuit, also called a tank suit. A maillot swimsuit generally consists of a tank-style torso top with high-cut legs. However, ...

, he was never seriously challenged until the end of the race.

Tour de France stage finishes

References

External links

{{Commons category, Hautacam
Hautacam on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)
Ski stations in France Tourist attractions in Hautes-Pyrénées Sports venues in Hautes-Pyrénées