La Planche des Belles Filles: 6 km, six Tour finishes and a wall at the end

La Planche des Belles Filles is a ski station high above the village of Plancher-les-Mines in the southern Vosges, and since 2012 it has become one of the Tour de France's favourite finishes. The station's own figures give the climb as 5.9 km at an average of 8.5%, with a maximum of 22%, and the last two kilometres are, in its words, a wall. It is a short climb, but it is steep from bottom to top. Here is how it is built, how to pace a hard 20–30 minute climb, and what to know about the gravel Super Planche above the finish.

The climb

The climb starts in Plancher-les-Mines and climbs the road up to the station. Massif des Vosges tourism gives it as about 7 km and 614 m of height gain, with the final 200 m at 22%. The track on this page is 8.0 km because it starts lower in the village: its first 2 km are an easy approach at about 2%.

• The village: a short run-in. The first kilometres climb gently out of Plancher-les-Mines. Use them to warm up properly. There is no other chance.
• The middle: steep and steady. Once the climb proper starts, our track holds between 7.6% and 10% for five kilometres without a break. The station says the early part already reaches 10%.
• The finish: the wall. The station describes the last two kilometres as a wall, with the steepest pitch near the finish. Our track follows the paved road to the station at about 1,030 m and stops there, so the very steepest ramps of the finish are not fully in our numbers.
• The Super Planche. In 2019 the Tour went one kilometre further, on a partly unpaved track at up to 24%, to the top at 1,148 m. Massif des Vosges tourism says you need a gravel bike for it. It isn't on our track.

How to ride a short, steep climb

For most riders the climb from the village takes between 20 and 40 minutes. That is close to the length of an FTP test, and it should be ridden like one: hard, but controlled, with the hardest part saved for the end.

• Start below threshold. In the first kilometre of the real climb, ride at 90–95% of FTP. At 9–10%, a few minutes too hard here costs you far more at the finish. Our guide to pacing a climb with power explains why.
• Gear for 10% and more. A compact with at least a 32 sprocket at the back keeps you seated and pedalling smoothly. See gearing for climbing.
• Stand for the ramps, sit for the rest. On the steepest pitches at the finish, standing lets you use your body weight. Between them, sit down again to save energy; climbing out of the saddle has the technique.
• The descent. Coming back down at these gradients, brake early and keep your speed under control well before the bends. Descending faster and safer covers the rest.

Six Tour finishes in eleven years

The Tour first finished here in 2012, on stage 7 from Tomblaine, and Christopher Froome won. It came back in 2014, when Vincenzo Nibali won from Mulhouse in the yellow jersey, and in 2017, when Fabio Aru won the stage from Vittel. In 2019 the race finished on the Super Planche for the first time and Dylan Teuns won. In 2020 a 36 km time trial finished here. Haute-Saône Tourisme counts six finishes in all, in 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2022, and Tadej Pogačar is among the winners here.

The station is also a finish for amateur events: the Les 3 Ballons sportive has finished here since the 1990s.

Practical

• Col'Attitude. Since 2022, Haute-Saône and its neighbours have closed the road to motor traffic for one morning each year, so cyclists have the climb to themselves. It is free. Check Haute-Saône Tourisme for next year's date.
• At the top. The station has a restaurant, a drinking water fountain open 24 hours, and the Accueil Vélo label for cyclists. It is open in the summer season.
• Parking. In Plancher-les-Mines there are car parks at the town hall, the Hôtel du Centre and the church, and at the bottom of the climb as you leave the village.
• Make it a loop. Haute-Saône Tourisme's Boucle des Belles Filles is 62 km with 1,800 m of climbing.

Ride it in Moveee Indoor

The route on this page is the real road from Plancher-les-Mines to the station. In Moveee Indoor your smart trainer reproduces its gradient as you ride, so the long 9–10% middle section feels exactly as relentless as it is, and the world around you is built from map data of the place. At 20–40 minutes, it is a perfect substitute for an FTP test: a real climb with a clear start and finish, ridden at the same effort every time.

Your rides are saved with power data, so you can repeat it every few weeks and watch your time and power change. To ride it in another app, download the GPX above.

The short version

5.9 km at 8.5% by the station's figures, from Plancher-les-Mines to La Planche des Belles Filles, and a gravel extension above that to 1,148 m. Steep from the start, steepest at the end. Warm up in the village, start below threshold, gear low, and treat it as a real-world FTP test on the trainer.