Tour Climbs: The complete guide to every mountain stage on the Tour de France. Chris Sidwells

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      It climbs very gently for two kilometres, but a further two kilometres into the Bethmale valley sees the gradients increase and get steadily harder to the top of the climb. There’s a great view back down the Bethmale after the second of a series of hairpins that characterise the last four kilometres of the climb.

      The Bethmale is a rural place of old customs, one of which is the gift of pointed shoes by a man to his fiancée at Christmas. The shoes, called sabots, have their toes shaped like a crescent moon. The length of the crescent is said to be a measure of the man’s love for his intended.

      WHICH WAY? Audressein is 12 kilometres southwest of St Girons on the D618. From Audressein head south on the D4 to Castillon-en-Couserans. At Les Bordes turn left onto the D17 and continue to the top of the Col de la Core.

      Col de Jau

      Length: 13.6 km

      Altitude: 1506 metres

      Height gain: 806 metres

      Average gradient: 5.9%

      Maximum gradient: 8.3%

      This is the most easterly of the Pyrenean Tour de France climbs. It was first visited by the Tour de France in 1976, and the race has been back twice. The leader over the Col de Jau in 1976 was a Frenchman, Raymond Delisle, in what was his best ever Tour.

      Delisle was a good but not great rider, who wore the yellow jersey for two days in 1976 before dropping back to fourth overall by the end of the race. It was Delisle’s best Tour finish, although he also won two stages in his twelve appearances in the race, and was the French national champion in 1969.

      Delisle has been far more successful since his racing career ended. He owns a beautiful château hotel near St Lo, deep in the Normandy countryside, called the Château de la Roque. He can be found there most nights regaling his guests with Tour de France stories around one of the château’s huge open fires.

      The Col de Jau starts in Mosset and winds its way upwards through a beautiful area of the Catalan Pyrenees national park. The twists and turns towards the top are a real treat with great views, but just like most Pyrenean climbs the gradient is ever changing and your gear shifters will be working overtime.

      If you descend the other side of the Jau and climb two smaller passes, the Col de Garavel and Col de Moulis, you come out on the D118 five kilometres south of Usson-les-Bains and the start of the Port de Pailhères.

      WHICH WAY? Mosset is seven kilometres northwest of Prades, a town on the N116 that is 30 kilometres west of Perpignan. Take the D619 north out of Prades, signposted Moltig-les-Bains. This road becomes the D14 and you follow it to Mosset, then continue to the top of the Col de Jau.

      Port de Lers

      Length: 11.5 km

      Altitude: 1517 metres

      Height gain: 807 metres

      Average gradient: 7%

      Maximum gradient: 10.9%

      Starting in Vicdessos, the Port de Lers climbs up through the Suc et Sentenac forest to join the road to the Col d’Agnes. Its first Tour de France visit was in 1995 when Marco Pantani blasted up the climb on his way to winning a stage at Guzet-Neige. The Tour visited the climb again in 2001, but did so from the other side.

      The area of the Pyrenees in which this climb and the others around it are located is known as the Couserans and it is one of the most unspoilt parts, and certainly one of the most sparsely populated, of the whole of France. According to the 1999 census there are only 18 inhabitants per square kilometre living in this area. It makes for some very peaceful riding, and you will meet very few cars, as the ones that are here are quickly absorbed in an extensive network of tiny back roads.

      The climb is up a fairly straight road which is interrupted occasionally by hairpins that help it climb the steepest slopes. The gradient doesn’t fluctuate much above or below its average, but there are two short stretches of ten percent. One comes after two kilometres, and the other is about three kilometres from the top. There is a short descent to the road that goes over the Col d’Agnes.

      WHICH WAY? Vicdessos is 15 kilometres southwest of Tarascon-sur-Ariège on the D8. Turn right off the D8 onto the D18, which turns into the D15 and is the road over the climb. If you descend the Col d’Agnes on the D18 to Massat and turn right onto the D618 you can climb the Col de Port and complete a circuit in Tarascon-sur-Ariege that is 85 kilometres long.

      Col de Latrape

      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.