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He considered sitting it out until dawn, then realised he'd freeze. When we get to the other top, I'll give you another one" "Son, do you know the Tourmalet well? Could you guide me? I'll give you a gold coin. They were youngsters guarding sheep with their dog. He mistook voices in the darkness for thieves. Dupont and Steinès started to walk but Dupont turned back after 600m, shouting: "The bears come over from Spain when it snows". Dupont and Steinès made it the first 16 km, after which their car came to a stop.
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He started at Sainte-Marie-de-Campan with sausage, ham and cheese at the inn opposite the church and arranged to hire a driver called Dupont from Bagnères-de-Bigorre. Steinès first agreed that the Tour would pay 2,000 francs to clear the Col d'Aubisque, then came back to investigate the Tourmalet. He told the story in a book published soon after the event. The Pyrenees were included in the Tour de France at the insistence of Alphonse Steinès, a colleague of the organiser, Henri Desgrange. The Col du Tourmalet being climbed in the 1910 Tour de France The Souvenir Jacques Goddet prize is awarded for the first rider to cross the Col du Tourmalet summit. The 2010 edition of the Tour included the pass on two consecutive stages, crossing westward on the 16th stage to Pau and eastward on the 17th stage with a finish at the summit.Īt the col is a memorial to Jacques Goddet, director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1987, and a large statue of Octave Lapize gasping for air as he struggles to make the climb. The Vuelta a España has also crossed the pass several times. Since 1980 it has been ranked hors catégorie, or exceptional. The total includes three stage finishes at the summit and three at La Mongie. Up to 2020, the Tour has visited the Col du Tourmalet a total of 87 times. In 1913, Eugène Christophe broke his fork on the Tourmalet and repaired it himself at a forge in Sainte-Marie-de-Campan. The first rider over was Octave Lapize, who went on to win the general classification in Paris. It has been included more than any other pass, starting in 1910, when the Pyrenees were introduced. The Col du Tourmalet is one of the most famous climbs on the Tour de France. Jacques Goddet memorial at the top of the Tourmalet Paying an entrance fee, one can enter the actual observatory and also take the cable car down to La Mongie.
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Some terraces of the observatory can be entered for free from the end of the track. The part between the Col de Laquets and the observatory is a steep and narrow hiking track. Up to the Col de Laquets (elevation 2,637 m (8,652 ft)) this track is a dirt and gravel road. As with most French climbs, each kilometre mountain pass cycling milestones indicate the height of the summit, the distance to the summit, and the average gradient of the next kilometre.įrom the pass, a rough track leads to the Pic du Midi de Bigorre observatory.
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Starting from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, the eastern climb is 17.2 km (10.7 mi), gaining 1,268 m (4,160 ft), at an average of 7.4% with a maximum of 12%. The western side, from Luz-Saint-Sauveur, is 19.0 km (11.8 mi) long, climbing 1,404 m (4,606 ft) at an average of 7.4% with a maximum of 10.2% near the summit. One of the mountain pass cycling milestones along the ascent from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan Tourmalet is also a cheese made from sheep milk produced in these mountains. The translation from Gascon to English then becomes "Distance Mountain". Then Tour becomes "distance", which is spelled "tur" but pronounced "tour" and mal is translated into "mountain".
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Some Frenchmen believe that Tourmalet translates into "bad trip" or "bad detour" because in French Tour translates into "trip" and mal translates into "bad" however, the correct language to translate from is Gascon, not French, because of the mountain's location in the Gascony region. Finally, the highest paved mountain pass in the Pyrenees is the Port d'Envalira in Andorra with its altitude of 2,407 m (7,897 ft). Departing directly from the Col du Tourmalet, there is a road to the mountain pass Col de Laquets with an altitude of 2,637 m (8,652 ft) However, this road is not paved. However, these roads are not mountain passes.
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Paved roads leading to the mountain lakes Lac de Cap-de-Long and Lac d'Aumar in the same French Department Hautes-Pyrénées are higher, as these lakes are at altitudes of 2,161 m (7,090 ft) and 2,192 m (7,192 ft), respectively. So in contrast to frequent claims (see for example ), it is neither the highest paved road in the Pyrenees nor the highest paved mountain pass in the Pyrenees. The Col du Tourmalet is the highest paved mountain pass in the French Pyrenees second only to the Col de Portet.