One of the highest road passes in the French Pyrénées, the Col du Tourmalet is a classic climb of the Tour de France. Manon guides you through the climb statistics and how to ride it along with top tips on cafe stops and the tough segments of this epic cycling climb! We help you to plan your cycling holiday down to the very last switchback.
00:00 Intro
01:12 Quick-fire facts
01:50 East side
02:30 La Mongie
03:40 Time to ride
04:47 KOM and QOM
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36 Comments
Have you ever climbed the Tourmalet? How did it go? 🗻
Europe is a little ambitious for me. But I have my sights on Onion Valley Rd. here in California.
No mention of the West side at all, what?
Tourmalet is in the center of magnificent cols. I did it few weeks ago, weather bit cold in morning but then 30 in the valley, but i continued to Ardiden after. But the view was crystall clear….in summer is difficult to have this sight. It could be easily coupled with Hautacam also. If you are hardcore rider just take TdF or vuelta etape. I usually do circular rides. I started in Argeles-gazost went over to Bagneres de Bigorre to Campan, Tourmalet, luz st saveur, Ardiden and back to Argeles epic 130 km with 3 km of climbing!
How is the east side 2.6 k longer with over 100 m less elevation, but it's the same average gradient? I know you're rounding to one decimal, but that seems like it should make a difference. (Too lazy to do the math myself.)
Thanks Manon and crew…….someday !
What a great series! Col Du Galibier is a must, pretty please🙏
The descents have got to be more fun………climbing is just a chore.
I can barely climb out of bed let alone a big mountain
I have done west side of the climb and it was perfect weather. freezing at the top for a bit though. my mates went down the east side and turned round and came back up.
Did the west side in1978 after I had cycled from Holland to the Pyrenees in two weeks. My lightest gear was 42-23, that meant most of the time I had to climb standing for about 2 hours. On the top I was completely drenched in sweat, but I had managed to pass 2 local French cyclists. Just 27 and in good shape. Although now at 72 still in very good shape mountains are now too hard for me.
There's a reason Bob Roll refers to the Tourmalet as the "Tore Mah Legs" off, . . .
I have made a homage bike for Octave Lapiz's 1910 TdF victory and should use it for the Tourmalet BUT in Lapiz'z spirit it's a single speed, so probalby not….
I managed 1'40" at age 67. Pleased about that👍
Question: In a video about Tourmalet you show in a "stock footage" (0:55) a gradient of 15% but then, at 1:22, you state that there are two ways up and none of them has a maximum gradient of 15%
are you sure a longer, smaller climb has the same % as a ahorter, bigger one?
I'm working my way up to attempting Alpe d'Huez on my smart trainer, but I look at the distance and average grade and think… maybe in a year or two, if I train constantly from now to then! I can only average around 160 W up these inclines at the moment and I don't know how far I can keep that up, certainly not the distance of Alpe d'Huez. One day.
The east side average gradient would be 5.9% according to your stats, not an identical 7.4%.
1:45, how is the average gradient the same when the distance is less and elevation is more on the West Side?
I was just happy with my 100 meter gain on Zwift this morning 😂
Would love to see a GCN and durian rider collaborate
Hi Manon, we live in pau. My wife is canadian and Im irish. We have our own fitness studio in Pau offering yoga, Pilates, spinning and strength training. I have been riding Tourmalet since a young lad.i was chuffed to meet you this year in Pau for the Finale of le tour de femmes avec Zwift. A climb every passionate cyclist should experience. Vive le tour.
I did it this summer when I crossed the Pyrenees from the east to the west in 8 days. The Tourmalet was on day 5 and it took me 1:50 to get up there. I did have a 5-10 min break just before the tunnel that leads into the ski village. It was a fantastic day, just three days before the TdF Femmes and it was 27 degrees and sunshine all the way!! Beware of the free roaming cows though..
c'mon, you can stop on a descent, not during the climb ….
At 110 kg these climbs terrify me
❤
You should come to Colombia and ride "alto de letras" 80 km up mountain
Wonderful
Loved it,thanks Manon and GCN,btw I think that le col du Portet is at 2215 m,which makes higher than the Tourmalet,it’s a fun climb too
There is a nice clockwise loop out from argeles gazost of 100km which takes in tourmalet. Done it several times.
I see Manon I click, simple as
The west and east side data just don't tally. How can the average gradient be the same when the west side is shorter and has more elevation?
Re: 1:04 – the Port d'Envalira (at 2408m) is the highest mountain pass in the Pyrenees, actually, not the Tourmalet. Then there's the Col de Portet at 2215m (although it's only paved on 1 side of the col).
I have fond memories of the Tourmalet (although most of the climbs I did were on moderately hot July or September days). I've ridden up the west side 5 times and the east side once. I absolutely love this col! 🙂
You say you prefer the east side, but most of the images are from the west side..
the village that is shown is Baréges, not la Mongie. The tunnels are on the East side, but most of the images are on the West side (the most spectacular, no doubt) and the final kilometers are on the west side (3:10), definitely…
You get the BEST Croque Monsieur and frites on the planet at the top, coffee is pretty damn good too!
There's a ride in New Hampshire in the U.S. that some consider the "Hardest hillclimb in the U.S. if not the World". The "Climb to the Sky" is a 7.6 mile/12.23 km route up Mt. Washington that has an average gradient of 12% with areas of 18% and a finishing 50 to 100 yards/45.72 to 91.44 meters at a 22% climb. the elevation gain is around 4,678 feet/1,425.85 meters. The average temperature at the summit is between 33 and 40 F/0.5 and 4.4 C.
The information that I have found shows Philip Gaimon with the men's record at 0:50:38 set in 2022 and Jeannie Longo for the women with a time of 0:58:14 (2000). The 2023 race was canceled due to weather.
I have never had the chance to ride this climb as I've never had a bike I trusted enough or a ride back down the mountain, bicycling back down Mt. Washington is forbidden.