Road Bike Routes
Ride the Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin, Luz Ardiden, Hautacam, Col du Soulor, Col d'Aubisque
Road Bike Routes
Ride the Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin, Luz Ardiden, Hautacam, Col du Soulor, Col d'Aubisque
Hautes Pyrenées Road Bike Routes
Three of the best road bike routes starting in Luz-Saint-Sauveur.
1. Col du Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden
Col du Tourmalet
Luz Ardiden
Luz Ardiden has been featured as a summit finish of the Tour de France 8 times. It’s a favorite climb of ours, especially during the busy summer months when it is still almost empty of traffic. If it’s your first time, then climb by the main D12 from Luz, but there is also an alternative gravel route via Viscos and the RF de Gaborisse, shown on the map.
Full Route - 69 km and 2489m of climbing.
Shorter route – Col du Tourmalet, 38 km and 1407m climbing.
2. Col des Tentes and Cirque de Troumouse
Col des Tentes
Cirque de Troumouse
If you still have the energy after the Col des Tentes, on your way back down turn right just before Gedre and follow the signs for the Cirque de Troumouse. It is almost as high as the Col des Tentes and at the top there is a new visitor’s center, (which looks like something out of the Telletubbies).
About 4km from the top there is a cafe where all cars have to stop and park, as there is no traffic allowed past this point. The last section is really narrow and steep, and be careful on the way back down to Gedre as there are some rough, bumpy sections.
Full Route - 93 km and 2447m of climbing.
Shorter route – Col des Tentes only, 62 km and 1492m climbing.
3. Col d'Aubisque and Col du Soulor
Col d'Aubisque
Col du Soulor
If you’re totally knackered by the time you get to the Col du Soulor, there are a couple of very nice cafes there open during summer months and even if you turn around and head back down to Argeles-Gazost and Luz-Saint-Sauveur, you will still have climbed over 1685m.
Full Route - 99 km and 2116m of climbing.
Shorter route – Col du Soulor, 79 km and 1685m climbing.
Some more local routes
Four more road bike routes around Luz-Saint-Sauveur
4. Col du Tourmalet Loop
The highest paved mountain pass in the French Pyrénées, the iconic Col du Tourmalet has featured in the Tour de France 87 times and in 2020 it is the summit finish of Stage 9 of the Vuelta a España. The Tourmalet “loop” via Bagnères-de-Bigorre can be ridden either clockwise or anti-clockwise and incorporates the lower elevation cols of the Col de Croix Blanche and Col de Loucroup to the SE of Lourdes.
Total distance 99 km and 1995m climbing. No shorter route available.
5. Hautacam Climb
The Hautacam – A climb made famous by the Tour de France, was last included in the 2014 Tour as a mountain top finish at the end of Stage 18. Not so spectacular as the high mountain climbs around Luz-Saint-Sauveur but worth doing if you have the time.
The climb itself is about 15.8km long at an average of 6.8% gradient, though there are a couple of short 10% sections. All the way up there are panoramic views of the Argeles Valley and the Val d’Azun, which should distract you from the fact you’re riding a “Hors Categorie” climb. Good news is, there’s a cafe at the top, open during the summer months …
Total distance 64 km and 1499m climbing. No shorter route available.
6. Pont d'Espagne and le Cambasque
The route from Luz-Saint-Sauveur to the Pont d’Espagne goes via Cauterets which was the finish town of Stage 11 of the 2015 Tour de France. It’s a main road and can get kind of busy during the summer months, especially at weekends, but the final few km before the Pont d’Espagne make it all worthwhile as the scenery is quite spectacular.
After Pont d’Espagne on the way back to Luz it is worth doing the 5 km climb from Cauterets to le Cambasque. This climb has featured a few times in the Tour de France, the last time in 1995. It is a much quieter road, you may only see other cyclists and the odd downhill mountain biker coming down from the Cauterets ski station bike park.
Total distance 72 km and 1664m of climbing. Shorter route, Pont d’Espagne only, 62 km and 1284m climbing.
7. Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aspin
This 100km route climbs the Col du Tourmalet from both directions … The start of the west ascent of the Tourmalet is at Luz St. Sauveur, which is where you will find Ardiden Velos and from there it’s 19km at an average gradient of 7.5% with a maximum of about 10%. Watch out just before and after Bareges, it gets kind of steep! Also the last 500m before the summit is over 10% and that’s after 19km of climbing!
After a 17km descent down the east side of the Tourmalet you get to Sainte-Marie de Campan, which is where Eugene Christophe stopped to mend his broken forks in the 1913 Tour de France. From there it’s about 13km to the Col d’Aspin with an average gradient of just over 5%.
On the way back, it’s a 17km climb from Sainte-Marie de Campan to the Col du Tourmalet with an average gradient of just under 7.5%. That is a couple of km less than the western side, but it’s a relentless HC climb. There is a cafe at the top and then it’s all down hill back to Luz-Saint-Sauveur.
Total distance 100 km and 3317m of climbing. Shorter route to Sainte-Marie de Campan only, 72 km and 2690m climbing.
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