The charming village of Luz-Saint-Sauveur
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Departure: Luz-Saint-Sauveur
Length: 19.0km
Altitude: 2,115m
Height Gain: 1,404m
Average Gradient: 7.4%
Maximum gradient: 10.2%
Category: Hors Category
The Pyrenees were first included at the insistence
of Adolphe Steinès, a colleague of Henri Desgrange, the man responsible for
creating the Tour de France back in 1903. But Steinès first had to convince the
Tour organiser that it was possible to send cyclists up heights of above 2,000
metres on what virtually amounted to unmade horse tracks. That wouldn’t be
possible until he made the trek himself, a trek that in
the height of summer, let alone
winter, was fraught with danger.
Lycra, Lattes and the long Way Round
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Early into the climb. Looks quite harmless, don't you think! |

Almost half-way to the top, or as least as close as I convinced myself I was, was the ski and summer resort of Barèges. With its thermal springs - the highest in Pyrenees - and camping amenities, it hardly befits a climb with so much history attached to it.
The moment you leave Barèges, the road soars sharply, agonisingly so. A test of your sincerity, if you really prefer the unspoiled beauty of nature to the spoils of human intervention, then you’re going to have to earn it!
In commemoration of Octave Lapize, the winner of the 1910 Tour de France; the first tour over the col du Tourmalet.. |
Soon the landscape begins to change, firstly a ‘pleasant’ stretch of tree-covered road. On its left is a wide strip of open ground, most likely a river during winter months. From here, following a gradual bend that veers right, and then left, you quickly discover why the Tourmalet has been used in the Tour de France more than any other. Sheer, exposed and incessantly steep, its remaining 7 kilometres test your resolve.
The colossal expanse that is the Haute-Pyrenees is finally splayed-out before you, should you have the energy or inclination to lift your head above the handlebars. If you’re game you’ll view the often snow-covered upper reaches of Pic du Midi deBigorre, towering above the Tourmalet itself.
Engulfed by yellow rock on what could be a wasteland on another planet, you instinctively follow the road, now winding on and upward as it hugs the high wall on your right. To your left is a gaping cavern that seems to have no limit.
With the top almost in sight, the road executes its final twists and turns, hardly a hiccup compared to the long and intimidating grind up the valley. Now there, you deservedly take the opportunity to absorb the magnificent views down each side of the col. Unsurprisingly, the road down, especially towards Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, and the site of Eugene Christophe’s famous blacksmith shop doesn’t seem so bad.
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
“Ride as much or as little, as long or as short as you feel. But ride”.
Eddy Merckx, Belgian road cycling legend
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