Famous Tour de France Climbs You Can Ride

From Bourg-d'Oisans: about 13.8 km at roughly 8%, 21 numbered hairpins, best ridden May to mid-November The climb everyone wants on their record. Fausto Coppi won the Tour's first summit finish here in 1952, and each hairpin now carries the names of stage winners, so you count your way down from 21 to 1. Be warned that the opening kilometers, with ramps around 12%, are the hardest of the lot; ride them gently and the gradient eases after the village of Huez, about 6 km from the top. Marco Pantani's 37 minutes 35 seconds from 1997 gives you something to laugh at in the café afterwards.

From Bédoin: about 21.4 km at around 7.5%, summit near 1,910 m, top road closed from mid-November The hardest classic on this list for most riders, because the Bédoin side gives you a long, steep forest section before the bare limestone moonscape near the summit, where there is no shade and the wind can be brutal. Tom Simpson died near the top during the 1967 Tour, and his roadside memorial is a place many riders stop. The top road shuts each winter and reopens around mid-April on the south side and mid-May on the north; the closure applies to bikes too. Malaucène and Sault offer two more ways up, Sault being the gentlest.

From Luz-Saint-Sauveur: about 19 km at 7.4%, summit 2,115 m, road closed roughly November to May The Tour has crossed the Tourmalet more often than any other climb, close to 90 times by recent counts, since it first sent riders over in 1910. That makes it the Pyrenean climb to ride if you only do one. The western side from Luz-Saint-Sauveur is the steeper test, with ramps above 10%; the eastern side from Campan is longer at a gentler 6% average and passes through the ski station of La Mongie. Snow keeps the road shut through the winter, so aim for summer rather than the first weeks after it reopens.

From Valloire: about 18 km at 6.9% to roughly 2,642 m; from the Col du Lautaret, about 8.5 km The highest of the classic Tour climbs here and the one that feels most like high mountains, with the air thinning in the final kilometers. It first appeared in 1911, and a memorial to Henri Desgrange, the Tour's founder, stands near the summit tunnel. Most riders tackle it from Valloire, often after the Col du Télégraphe from Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, which turns it into a full day. The short Lautaret side suits anyone who wants the view without the full effort. Snow usually keeps it closed until around June.

From Briançon: about 20 km at 5.7%; from the south, about 15.9 km at 6.9% after the Guil valley approach; summit 2,361 m Come for the Casse Déserte, a barren slope of rock pinnacles and scree near the top that looks like nowhere else in the Alps. The Tour first climbed the Izoard in 1922, and a monument at the summit honors Fausto Coppi and Louison Bobet, two riders who made it their own. The Briançon side is the kinder way up for a first visit; the southern side starts with a gentle run up the Guil gorge from Guillestre, then turns steeper, with ramps reported at up to 14%, and saves the Casse Déserte for the final stretch.

From Laruns: about 16.6 km at 7.2% to roughly 1,709 m; from the east, about 30 km over the Col du Soulor One of the passes that first took the Tour into the high mountains in 1910, and still one of the most dramatic. It was on the Aubisque that Wim van Est, in the yellow jersey in 1951, went off the edge of the road, which had no barriers yet, and was hauled back up with a rope of knotted tires. The Laruns side is the harder climb, with pitches up to 13%; the eastern approach is long but gentler, averaging about 4%, and treats the Soulor as part of the same ascent, so the scenery is the reward rather than the gradient.

From La Chambre: over 19 km at about 7.8%; from Aigueblanche, 28 km at 5.4%; usually open late May or June to late October The Madeleine has no famous hairpins or summit resort, just a long, relentless slog that tells you honestly how fit you are. The paved pass was inaugurated in 1969 and the Tour came over it that same year. The southern side from La Chambre in the Maurienne valley has repeated sections at 10 to 11% and almost nowhere to recover, so pace it like a time trial. The northern side from the Tarentaise is longer and gentler at first, but its final 12 km still average about 7.4%. Snow can shut it from late October, so do not leave it to the end of the season.

From the Barrage du Verney near Allemont: about 27.5 km at 4.7%; from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, about 30 km at 5.1%; summit 2,068 m A long climb whose modest average hides some sharp ramps, reaching 11% on the Oisans side, so do not judge it by the headline figure. It joined the Tour in 1947. Its great advantage for a trip is location: the western side starts in the same valley as Alpe d'Huez, so you can base yourself in Bourg-d'Oisans and ride both. From the Maurienne side you can also turn off partway for the neighboring Col du Glandon.

Via Méribel: about 26.5 km from Moûtiers to 2,304 m, with short ramps near 20%; the top usually opens to bikes from late June The newest legend here, paved only in 2019, and the only climb on this list whose top section is a road built for bikes, with no motor traffic at all. It went straight into the Tour with a summit finish in 2020, was crossed in 2023 and hosted another finish in 2025. That car-free upper road is a joy to ride, but it is also where the gradient turns irregular and savage in short bursts, after a long drag up the valley. Its season is short, often ending around late September, so bring your lowest gears and check with the Méribel or Courchevel tourist offices before you go, since snow decides the opening dates.

From Arreau: about 12 km at 6.5%; from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, 12.8 km at 5% with a final 5 km near 8%; summit 1,489 m The most approachable of the great Pyrenean passes and a sensible first goal for anyone nervous about the bigger names. It was part of the 1910 stage so hard it was nicknamed the Circle of Death, the Tour's first real venture into high mountains. Because the Campan side starts where the eastern road up the Tourmalet begins, strong riders link the two in one day, and the Peyresourde is a short ride on from Arreau if you want a third.

From Bagnères-de-Luchon: about 15.3 km at 6.1%; from Avajan in the west, about 10 km at 6.6%; summit 1,569 m A Tour regular since the very first Pyrenean stage of 1910, which ran from Luchon and was won by Octave Lapize, the man who went on to win that year's race. The pass has featured in most Tours since then. The long eastern side from the spa town of Luchon is steady rather than savage, making it a good climb to learn your pacing on, while the shorter western ramps hit 11% in places. Luchon makes a comfortable base with plenty of other passes nearby.

From Samoëns: roughly 11.6 to 13.5 km depending on the start, averaging 7.5 to 8.5%; usually open late spring to mid-fall Lower and less famous than the giants, but do not underestimate it: the gradient is hard from bottom to top and there is nowhere to recover. The Tour has used it many times as a late climb between Samoëns and Morzine, the resort towns that make easy bases, with the descent dropping straight into Morzine. That makes it a smart pick for a trip to the northern Alps within reach of Geneva, away from the crowds on Alpe d'Huez, and a good test of whether you are ready for the longer Alpine passes.

From Culoz: about 17.6 km to the 1,501 m col, with the first 9 km often over 10% and one pitch at 14% The Jura's answer to the Alps, and a climb that earns its place on gradient rather than altitude. The Tour discovered it on the tenth stage of 2012, when Thomas Voeckler reached the top first. The Culoz side front-loads the pain with a series of steep bends before a steadier but still testing upper half, so start slower than feels necessary. The reward is a summit view that takes in Mont Blanc and three Alpine lakes, and its position between Geneva and Lyon makes it an easy detour on the way to the bigger mountains.

From Plancher-les-Mines: about 5.9 km at 8.5% to 1,148 m, with a final ramp of over 20% The short one, and the best Tour climb for riders who cannot reach the high Alps or Pyrenees, since it sits in the Vosges of eastern France. The Tour finished a stage here six times between 2012 and 2022, starting with Chris Froome's first Tour stage win. The figures look modest until the last few hundred meters, which kick up beyond 20%. The extra gravel kilometer the race has added in some years, also over 20%, is best left to a gravel bike.