Col d'Aubisque


The Col d'Aubisque is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees south of Tarbes and Pau in the department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Aquitaine region of France.
The pass is on the northern slopes of the Pic de Ger and connects Laruns, in the valley of the Gave d'Ossau, via Eaux-Bonnes to Argelès-Gazost, in the valley of the Gave de Pau, via the Col du Soulor. The road crosses the Cirque du Litor, in the upper part of the Ouzom valley. It is generally closed from December to June.
The pass is starting point of excursions and a centre for winter sports. In summer, it is popular with cyclists. It is regularly part of the Tour de France, generally rated an hors catégorie climb.

The col

The summit of the col is marked by a commemorative plaque to André Bach, a member of Legion of Honour and President of the Cyclo Club of Béarn. André Bach was mutilated during World War 1 when he lost his left arm in 1916. In 1943 he was deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, and he died in May 1945 at Boulay-Moselle while returning home. The stele was inaugurated on 26 September 1948, and every year is the focus of a memorial ride.
The inscription reads:
André Bach 1888-1945
Officier de la Légion d'honneur
Grand mutilé - Président du C.C.B. - Mort en Déportation
Pour perpétuer son souvenir en ce lieu qu'il aimait tant

Ses amis Les Cyclotouristes du C.C.B. 1948

Details of the climb

From the west, the climb to the Aubisque starts in Laruns. From there, the Aubisque is and rises, an average gradient of 7.2%. The first few kilometres, to the spa resort of Eaux-Bonnes, are fairly easy. After the Cascade de Valentin comes a section at 13%. From there to the top, the climb is at 8% average, passing the ski resort of Gourette at.
The east side is climbed after the Col du Soulor. Starting from Argelès-Gazost, the Soulor is. It rises, an average gradient of 5.2%. It gets tougher after Arrens-Marsous with 10% and more. From the Soulor, the climb is, gaining a further. The road from the Soulor runs along cliffs in the Cirque du Litor, where there are two short, narrow tunnels. From the Cirque du Litor, the climb is at 4.6%, a height gain of.
Writing in Vélo, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle said:
The Aubisque is one of those hors catégorie cols that make the legend of the Tour. The climb is in three parts. The first is fairly easy. The road is good and the specialists use 39 × 19 or 53 × 21. Then, at Eaux-Bonnes, you turn left and get to the real climb. This part, as far as Gourette, is a lot more difficult. The hardest part swings between eight and ten per cent from the seventh kilometre until Pont-du-Goua at the ninth kilometre and you need 39 × 21. Then, after 300m of flat in Gourette, a hairpin goes up to the Hôtel des Crêtes Blanches. Riders use 39 × 17 over four kilometres before going into 39 × 16 in the last two kilometres.

Tour de France

The Col d'Aubisque appeared in the Tour de France in 1910, crossed by François Lafourcade. It has appeared frequently since then, more than once every two years. It was included at the insistence of Alphone Steinès, a colleague of Henri Desgrange at the Tour de France. Steinès visited the man responsible for local roads, the ingénieur des ponts-et-chaussées, who said: "Take the riders up the Aubisque? You're completely crazy in Paris." Steinès agreed that the Tour would pay 5,000 francs to clear the pass. Desgrange knocked the price down to 2,000.
In 1951, Wim van Est was in the yellow jersey – the first Dutchman to wear it and chasing the leaders towards the Soulor when he slipped on gravel and fell into a ravine. He said:
The team's manager, Kees Pellenaars, took a tow rope from the Dutch team's car. It was too short to reach van Est and so to it he tied 40 racing tyres, and thus he was pulled out. Van Est said: "It was all the tyres that Pellenaars had for the team. By the time they'd tugged me up, they were all stretched and they wouldn't stay on the wheels any more! Forty tyres! I wanted to get back on my bike and start racing again. But I couldn't. Pellenaars stopped the whole team."
Van Est told journalists: "I had the feeling that I was taking that bend badly but I so much wanted to keep the yellow jersey, so I went flat out and off I flew. A monument spot 50 years later, on 17 July 2001, says: "Here on 17 July 1951 the cyclist Wim van Est fell 70 metres. He survived but lost the yellow jersey." A newspaper advertisement in the Netherlands showed van Est displaying the watch that he'd worn, with the legend: "My heart stopped, but not my Pontiac."

Tour de France stage finishes

Stage 16 of the 2007 Tour de France finished at the summit of the Aubisque. There has been one previous finish at the summit. In 1971, stage 16a finished at Gourette on the western approaches to Aubisque.
YearStageStart of stageDistance Category
of climb		Stage winnerYellow jersey
200716Orthez218.5HC
198518aLuz-Saint-Sauveur52.51
197116aBagnères-de-Luchon1451

Rasmussen won stage 16 in 2007, confirming himself as favourite for victory in Paris, but that evening was sacked by his team and thrown off the race.

Passages in the Tour de France (since 1947)

There have been 45 passages over the summit since 1947, making it the second most visited mountain in the race's history.
YearStageCategoryStartFinishLeader at the summit
201819HCLourdesLaruns
201216HCPauBagnères-de-Luchon
201113HCPauLourdes
201016HCBagnères-de-LuchonPau
200516HCMourenxPau
200211HCPauLa Mongie
2000102DaxHautacam
1999161LannemezanPau
199810HCPauBagnères-de-Luchon
1996171Argelès-GazostPamplona
1995162TarbesPauStage neutralised
1993171TarbesPau
199113HCJacaVal-Louron
199017HCLourdesPau
19899HCPauCauterets
198714HCPauLuz-Ardiden
198518bHCLarunsPau
198310HCPauBagnères-de-Luchon
1982121FleurancePau
198013HCPauBagnères-de-Luchon
197721AuchPau
1976151Saint-Lary-SoulanPau
197271BayonnePau
1971161Bagnères-de-LuchonGourette
1970191Bagnères-de-BigorreMourenx
1969171La MongieMourenx
1968121PauSaint-Gaudens
1967171Bagnères-de-LuchonPau
1966101BayonnePau
196591DaxBagnères-de-Bigorre
1964161Bagnères-de-LuchonPau
1963101PauBagnères-de-Bigorre
1961171Bagnères-de-LuchonPau
1960101Mont-de-MarsanPau
1958131DaxPau
1957181Saint-GaudensPau
1956111BayonnePau
1955181Saint-GaudensPau
1954111BayonnePau
1953101PauCauterets
1952181Bagnères-de-BigorrePau
1951131DaxTarbes
1950111PauSaint-Gaudens
1949111PauBagnères-de-Luchon
194871BiarritzLourdes
1947151Bagnères-de-LuchonPau

Vuelta a España

Vuelta a España stage finishes

Stage 14 of the 2016 Vuelta a España finished at the summit of the Aubisque.
YearStageStart of stageDistance Category
of climb		Stage winnerRed jersey
201614Urdax-Dantxarinea196Especial