Читать книгу Tour Climbs: The complete guide to every mountain stage on the Tour de France - Chris Sidwells - Страница 47

Length: 5.9 km

Altitude: 1112 metres

Height gain: 424 metres

Average gradient: 7.2%

Maximum gradient: 14.7%

Proving that a climb doesn’t need to be long to be hard, the Col de Latrape is the shortest but toughest of the Tour de France climbs in the Pyrenees. It starts easily, but even the first kilometre ends with a stretch of seven percent. The gradient eases for one kilometre, then comes 500 metres of 13.7 percent.

After that there is a flat bit – good job too as the next kilometre is mostly 14.7 percent, easing as it ends to just over ten. The road then fluctuates between six and nine percent until it eases for the last 100 or so metres to the top.

The climb starts in Sérac, and uses some of the lacets of the Guzet-Neige climb before the road heads off to the summit of the Latrape in a straight line, which makes the steepest part even more excruciating because you can see it looming up in front of you.

The Col de Latrape has been visited five times by the Tour de France since 1984 when Jean-René Bernaudeau won the race to the top on the day that Robert Millar won his stage in Guzet-Neige. Today Bernaudeau is the manager of one of the French teams that takes part in the Tour de France.

WHICH WAY? Serac is on the D8, 15 kilometres southeast of Oust, which is 13 kilometres south of St Girons. Follow the D8 in a southeasterly direction, ignoring the right-hand turn off on the D68 to Guzet-Neige.