Col d'Aubisque

The Col d'Aubisque () (elevation ) 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.Chany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, La Martinière, France, p112

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 (west) to Argelès-Gazost, in the valley of the Gave de Pau, via the Col du Soulor (east). 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 the starting point of several 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 (beyond categorization) climb.

The col The summit of the col is marked by a commemorative plaque to André Bach (1888–1945), a member of Legion of Honour and President of the Cyclo Club of Béarn (C.C.B.). André Bach was mutilated during World War I, losing 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.Sud Ouest, Le pèlerinage des cyclos du CCB à l'Aubisque (The pilgrimage of cyclists at the CWB Aubisque).The inscription reads:André Bach 1888–1945Officier de la Légion d'honneurGrand mutilé – Président du C.C.B. – Mort en DéportationPour perpétuer son souvenir en ce lieu qu'il aimait tant Ses amis Les Cyclotouristes du C.C.B. 1948In English:"André Bach 1888–1945Officer of the Honour LegionGrand mutilated – President of the C.C.B. – Dead from DeportationTo continue his memory in this place he liked so muchHis friends the 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.Vélo, France, March 2005

Tour de France

The Col d'Aubisque first 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 local road engineer (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 itVélo, France, April 2005 and chasing the leaders towards the Soulor when he slipped on gravel and fell into a ravine. He said: That first bend was wet, slippery from the snow. And there were sharp stones on the road that the cars had kicked up, and my front wheel hit them and I went over. Well, there was a drop of 20m.Other reports put the fall at 70m They've built a barrier there now but then there was nothing to stop you going over. I fell 20 metres, rolling and rolling and rolling. My feet had come out of the straps, my bike had disappeared, and there was a little flat area, the only one that's there, no bigger than the seat of a chair, and I landed on my backside. A metre left or right and I'd have dropped onto solid stone, six or seven hundred metres down. My ankles were all hurt, my elbows were kaput. I was all bruised and shaken up and I didn't know where I was, but nothing was broken.

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 1985). In 1971, stage 16a finished at Gourette on the western approaches to Aubisque.

YearStageStart of stageDistance (km)Categoryof climbStage winnerYellow jersey200716Orthez218.5HC198518aLuz-Saint-Sauveur52.51197116aBagnères-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 removed from the race.

Passages in the Tour de France (since 1947) There have been 47 passages over the summit since 1947, making it the second most visited mountain in the race's history.

YearStageCategory StartFinish Leader at the summit202218HC Lourdes Hautacam 201819HC Lourdes Laruns 201216HC Pau Bagnères-de-Luchon 201113HC Pau Lourdes201016HC Bagnères-de-Luchon Pau200516HC Mourenx Pau200211HC Pau La Mongie200010 2 Dax Hautacam1999161 Lannemezan Pau199810HC Pau Bagnères-de-Luchon 1996171 Argelès-Gazost Pamplona1995162 Tarbes PauStage neutralised1993171 Tarbes Pau199113HC Jaca Val-Louron199017HC Lourdes Pau19899HC Pau Cauterets198714HC Pau Luz Ardiden198518bHC Laruns Pau198310HC Pau Bagnères-de-Luchon 1982121 Fleurance Pau198013HC Pau Bagnères-de-Luchon 19772 1 Auch Pau1976151 Saint-Lary-Soulan Pau197271 Bayonne Pau1971161 Bagnères-de-Luchon Gourette1970191 Bagnères-de-Bigorre Mourenx 1969171 La Mongie Mourenx 1968121 Pau Saint-Gaudens1967171 Bagnères-de-Luchon Pau1966101 Bayonne Pau196591 Dax Bagnères-de-Bigorre 1964161 Bagnères-de-Luchon Pau1963101 Pau Bagnères-de-Bigorre 1961171 Bagnères-de-Luchon Pau1960101 Mont-de-Marsan Pau1958131 Dax Pau1957181 Saint-Gaudens Pau1956111 Bayonne Pau1955181 Saint-Gaudens Pau1954111 Bayonne Pau1953101 Pau Cauterets1952181 Bagnères-de-Bigorre Pau1951131 Dax Tarbes1950111 Pau Saint-Gaudens 1949111 Pau Bagnères-de-Luchon 194871 Biarritz Lourdes 1947151 Bagnères-de-Luchon Pau

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 (km)Categoryof climbStage winnerRed jersey201614Urdax-Dantxarinea196Especial

Col d'Aubisque

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