Col du Tourmalet from Luz-Saint-Sauveur: 19 km of 7.5% and a sting at the top

The Col du Tourmalet is the highest road pass in the French Pyrenees, at 2,115 m, and it has been climbed by the Tour de France more often than any other mountain. From Luz-Saint-Sauveur in the west it is 18.7 km at an average of 7.5%, a long, steady climb through the villages of the Barèges valley to a bare saddle with a giant statue of a cyclist at the top. Here is how the west side is built, how to pace it, and how to ride it with the road closed to cars.

The climb from Luz

The Hautes-Pyrénées route sheet for this side gives 18.7 km at 7.5% with passages above 10% in the last two kilometres. The regional tourism listing rounds it to 19 km and 1,404 m of height gain. Our track on this page agrees: 19.0 km and 1,403 m. There are kilometre posts all the way from Luz to the top.

• Luz to Barèges: the valley. The road leaves Luz and climbs east through Esterre, Viella and Betpouey towards Barèges. On our track the first kilometre is gentle and then the gradient settles at 7–8% and stays there.
• Above Barèges: the open mountain. Above Barèges the road climbs into the Grand Tourmalet ski area. Our track eases slightly, to around 6%, for a couple of kilometres, then builds again. From the Pont de la Gaubie you can take the Voie Laurent Fignon, a section of the old road reserved for bikes on the way up.
• The last 2 km: the sting. This is where the route sheet places the gradients above 10%. Plan for the tourist board's 10%-plus. At the top stands the Géant, the statue dedicated to Octave Lapize, and in summer there is food.

How to pace the Tourmalet

The regional listing allows three hours from Luz to the top. Most riders need less, but it is a long effort at a gradient that hardly changes, which is both its comfort and its danger.

• Find one effort and keep it. A climb this even is perfect for steady pacing. Choose a power you could hold for well over an hour and ride the valley at it, even when it feels easy. Our guide to pacing a climb with power shows how to choose the number.
• Save something for the end. The last two kilometres are the steepest of the climb and you reach them close to 2,000 m. If you are still at your target power at Barèges and breathing easily, you have paced it right.
• Count the posts. The kilometre posts tell you exactly how much is left. Break the climb into blocks of three or four kilometres and eat at the end of each.
• Gear for 8% and 10%. A compact with a 30 or 32 sprocket is enough for most riders; heavier riders will be glad of a 34. See gearing for climbing.
• Prepare for the descent. The top is high and open. Take a jacket for the way down, whichever side you descend, and read descending faster and safer before you go.

Why it is the Tourmalet

The road was raced before the Tour came. According to the Hautes-Pyrénées route sheet, the first bike race over the pass was a touring competition organised by the Touring Club de France on 18 August 1902, which crossed it twice. The Tour de France first climbed it on 21 July 1910, on a 325 km stage from Bayonne to Luchon. Octave Lapize led over the top and, the story goes, shouted at the organisers that they were murderers.

Since then the Tourmalet has been crossed by the Tour more often than any other col. It has also been a finish: in 2010, in the famous duel between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador, and in 2019, when Thibaut Pinot won the stage. In July 2026 the Tour crossed it again on the stage from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre. The route sheet lists Fausto Coppi, Federico Bahamontes, Eddy Merckx and Lucien Van Impe among the climbers who have led over it.

When to go, and what to watch for

• Season. The route sheet recommends June to November and asks riders to check whether the pass is open before setting out. In winter the pass is the centre of a ski area.
• Cars off the road. Each July, Tourisme Hautes-Pyrénées runs the Pyrénées Cycl'n Trip, when passes are reserved for cyclists from 9:00 to 12:00. It is free, with no registration and no fixed start, and the Tourmalet has been on the programme. Check the next edition's dates on their site.
• Getting there. Luz-Saint-Sauveur is about 30 km south of Lourdes. There is free parking next to the tourist office, a bus stop on the Lourdes–valleys line about five minutes' walk from the start, and the regional listing says a return shuttle can be arranged through the bike rental shops.
• Make it a loop. Many riders cross the pass and climb back from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, the side the route sheet says has the reputation of being the hardest, with passages above 10%. For a bigger Pyrenean week, our guide to the Col d'Aubisque covers a neighbour to the west.

Ride it in Moveee Indoor

The route on this page is the real road from Luz to the pass, with its height at every point. In Moveee Indoor your smart trainer reproduces that gradient as you ride, so you feel the long 7–8% grind through the valley and the steeper finish above the ski area, and the world around you is built from map data of the real place. The lesson: the effort you choose at Esterre is the one you live with at 2,000 m.

Ride it once at a planned power and look at the saved power data afterwards: if the last 3 km were your weakest, start lower next time. It runs in the browser or as the Mac and Windows app. Prefer your own device? Download the GPX above and load it into any app that rides GPX files.

The short version

18.7 km at 7.5% from Luz-Saint-Sauveur to 2,115 m, the highest road pass in the French Pyrenees and the Tour's most-climbed col. It is steady almost all the way, with the steepest gradients in the last two kilometres. Pace it evenly, take a jacket for the descent, and check the opening and the cars-off mornings before you go.