Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1Alpe d'HuezAlpe d'HuezFrom 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…0
  2. 2Mont VentouxMont VentouxFrom 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…0
  3. 3Col du TourmaletCol du TourmaletFrom 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…0
  4. 4Col du GalibierCol du GalibierFrom 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,…0
  5. 5Col d'IzoardCol d'IzoardFrom 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…0
  6. 6Col d'AubisqueCol d'AubisqueFrom 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…0
  7. 7Col de la MadeleineCol de la MadeleineFrom 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…0
  8. 8Col de la Croix de FerCol de la Croix de FerFrom 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…0
  9. 9Col de la LozeCol de la LozeVia 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…0
  10. 10Col d'AspinCol d'AspinFrom 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…0