This is the most famous climb in cycling world. No doubt.
It is not the most difficult climb, nor the most steep. It is not the highest. Not even has the best scenery. Not sure other climbs have more history.
It is the combination of it all, that makes Tourmalet so special.
It is the combination of it all, that makes Tourmalet so special.
Year after year Le Tour de France pays tribute to this special climb and host hundreds of thousands people watching cyclists struggling to get to the top
As a cycling fan, once you get to the top, you must make a picture beside “Le Geant du Tourmalet”, the silver statue of a cyclist (said to be Octave Lapize, first cyclist to cross the col in 1910 Tour de France). This statue is removed during winter, and is kept in Gedre, beside Bagneres de Bigorre. Only beginning of each June, the giant comes back to its place, in an every time more popular congregation of cyclists, joining the geant in its way back.
You should also stop at the mythical bar to eat something or drink a coke, but also to watch the old pictures on the walls, the old bikes hanging up there and smelling the cycling history. You must also enter the souvenirs shop and buy some shirt, pin or small gadget that after many years will make you remind you were there.
Join our Barcelona Tourmalet trip next summer!
More details here: https://roadcycling.barcelona/tours/barcelona-tourmalet/
