Cycloscape
No. 6 · Top 10 world rides· 🇫🇷 France

Col du Tourmalet — Luz-Saint-Sauveur

Hautes-Pyrénées · Luz-Saint-Sauveur → Col du Tourmalet

The pass the Tour de France has crossed more than any other, from its western foot.

Distance
18.5 km
Climbing
+1,409 m
Est. time
2 h 15 min
at a steady 150 W
Avg gradient
7.6 %
steepest 50 m: 14 %

Free, and no account needed to start. It rides in your browser with any smart trainer or power meter — a free account saves your result on the leaderboard below.

START
Arrows show the wayHigh point 2,111 m

Elevation profile

7052,111 m · 1 categorised climb · Very hard · Road
HC
Climb 1@ 0.3 km
18.2 km · +1401 m · max 13.7%
7.7%
avg

About Col du Tourmalet — Luz-Saint-Sauveur

The Tour first sent its riders over the Tourmalet in 1910, on a dirt track, and it has been the reference climb of the Pyrenees ever since. From Luz-Saint-Sauveur the road follows the Bastan valley up through Barèges, steady and green, before the valley opens out into high pasture.

The top is the part that stays with you: the road swings across an open bowl under the Pic du Midi, the gradient stiffens in the last kilometres, and the pass itself is a narrow notch with a giant steel cyclist standing over it.

Why ride this route indoors?

  • A long climb at a gradient you can hold a rhythm on — perfect for sustained tempo or threshold work.
  • The steepest kilometres come last, so it teaches the hardest lesson in climbing: keep something back.
  • High Pyrenean passes are snowed in until late spring; this one is always open.

Good to know

+Is this the official route of Col du Tourmalet — Luz-Saint-Sauveur?

No. It was recreated by Cycloscape from open map data (OpenStreetMap) following public descriptions of the route, for indoor training. It may differ from the official route or from current road conditions.

+What do I need to ride Col du Tourmalet — Luz-Saint-Sauveur indoors?

A smart trainer or a power meter, and a browser. Cycloscape connects over Bluetooth or ANT+ from the browser, sets the resistance of a smart trainer to the real gradient, and turns the route’s GPX into a 3D world. There is nothing to install.

+Is it free?

Yes. You can start riding this route without an account. A free account saves your result and puts you on the route’s leaderboard.

Leaderboard

Best effort per rider — a free account puts your ride on it.

More from the top 10 world rides

See all 10 →