Alpe d'Huez - Rochetaillée

Yet one of the most famous of the mountain climbs on the Tour de France, it is certainly not the toughest one. l'Alpe d'Huez has hosted a stage finish almost every year since 1976. The Tour de France first finished a stage on l'Alpe d'Huez in 1952. That stage was won by the Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi. The climb up Alpe d'Huez is 14km at an average gradient of 8% with 21 hairpin bends marked with panels honouring the winners of each stage that has finished there. The fastest climb ever was achieved by Marco Pantani (+ 14-02-2004) in 1995: 36'50".

The Alpe d'Huez is situated in Rhone-Alpes and belongs to the Alps . Starting from Rochetaillée, the Alpe d'Huez ascent is 22.6 km long. Over this distance, you climb 1104 heightmeters. The average percentage thus is 4.9 %.

Look for other sides to climb the Alpe d'Huez.

Story by Espen Skancke from , Sweden, submitted on 29/10/2008

Compaired to the 21 hairpins from Bourg, the climb from the ""back side"" of Alpe d´Huez is a whole lot easier. Although it does have its steep parts too. The gradient itself is also a bit lower. However....the top part is ofcourse the same as the hairpins since the two roads link together right after turn 7. Beware... If you get dizzy from heights, this is a pretty brutal climb. After you´ve passed the town Reculas, the rather narrow road follows the edge of the 1000 feet vertical drop down towards the river beyond. Cycling on the right side of the road having cars meeting you can be exiting so to say. espen

My personal climb rating:

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