Col du Télégraphe
Encyclopedia
Col du Télégraphe is a mountain pass
in the French Alps
situated above the Maurienne
valley between the eastern end of the massif d'Arvan-Villards and the massif des Cerces
.
The pass links Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne
to the north and Valloire
to the south, as well as forming an access point to the col du Galibier
via its north face.
The route is often used during the ascent to Col du Galibier in the Tour de France
, and is thus popular with cyclists.
, the climb is 11.8 km long, gaining 856 m. in height (an average of 7.3%). The maximum gradient is 9.8% at the summit.
From the south, the climb starts at Valloire
and is 4.8 km long at an average gradient of 3.4% (height gain: 165 m).
in 1911
; the first rider over the summit was Emile Georget
.
Since 1947, the Col du Télégraphe has been crossed 29 times by the Tour de France. On several of those occasions it has not been ranked for points in the King of the Mountains
competition, being treated as part of the descent from the Col du Galibier, and has been ranked for points only 18 times.
In the 2007 Tour
, the Col du Télégraphe was crossed on 17 July in the 159.5 km stage 9 from Val-d'Isère to Briançon
. Euskaltel-Euskadi
rider Mikel Astarloza
was the first man over the top.
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
in the French Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
situated above the Maurienne
Maurienne
Maurienne is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.-Location:...
valley between the eastern end of the massif d'Arvan-Villards and the massif des Cerces
Massif des Cerces
The massif des Cerces is a region of the French Alps on the Franco-Italian border. On the French side it lies in the departements of Hautes-Alpes and Savoie....
.
The pass links Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Savoie department*The 1917 Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailment, which killed several hundred French troops....
to the north and Valloire
Valloire
Valloire is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The ski resort Valloire-Galibier is located in the commune, at the foot of the Col du Galibier and next to the ski resort of Valmeinier, France....
to the south, as well as forming an access point to the col du Galibier
Col du Galibier
Col du Galibier is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the ninth highest paved road in the Alps and the sixth highest mountain pass. It is often the highest point of the Tour de France....
via its north face.
The route is often used during the ascent to Col du Galibier in the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
, and is thus popular with cyclists.
Details of the climb
From the north, starting at Saint-Michel-de-MaurienneSaint-Michel-de-Maurienne
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Savoie department*The 1917 Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailment, which killed several hundred French troops....
, the climb is 11.8 km long, gaining 856 m. in height (an average of 7.3%). The maximum gradient is 9.8% at the summit.
From the south, the climb starts at Valloire
Valloire
Valloire is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The ski resort Valloire-Galibier is located in the commune, at the foot of the Col du Galibier and next to the ski resort of Valmeinier, France....
and is 4.8 km long at an average gradient of 3.4% (height gain: 165 m).
The Tour de France
The Col du Télégraphe was first used in the Tour de FranceTour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
in 1911
1911 Tour de France
The 1911 Tour de France was the 9th Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 30 July 1911. It was composed of 15 stages over , ridden at an average speed of 27.322 km/h. The results were computed by giving each rider points according to his finishing position on each stage, and the rider with...
; the first rider over the summit was Emile Georget
Émile Georget
Émile Georget was a French road racing cyclist. Born in Bossay-sur-Claise, he was the younger brother of cyclist Léon Georget.He died at Châtellerault.- Tour de France :...
.
Since 1947, the Col du Télégraphe has been crossed 29 times by the Tour de France. On several of those occasions it has not been ranked for points in the King of the Mountains
King of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...
competition, being treated as part of the descent from the Col du Galibier, and has been ranked for points only 18 times.
In the 2007 Tour
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain...
, the Col du Télégraphe was crossed on 17 July in the 159.5 km stage 9 from Val-d'Isère to Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
. Euskaltel-Euskadi
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Euskaltel-Euskadi is a professional road bicycle racing team from Spain. The team is commercially sponsored, but also works as an unofficial Basque national team and is partly funded by the Basque Government. Its riders are either from Basque Country, or at least have grown up in the cycling...
rider Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau is a Basque professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .In 2003 he won his first race, when he finished just in front of Lennie Kristensen in the overall rankings of the Tour Down Under...
was the first man over the top.
Appearances in the Tour de France (since 1947)
| Year | Stage | Category | Leader at the summit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain... |
9 | 1 | Mikel Astarloza Mikel Astarloza Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau is a Basque professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .In 2003 he won his first race, when he finished just in front of Lennie Kristensen in the overall rankings of the Tour Down Under... |
| 2006 2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis.... |
16 | - | |
| 2005 2005 Tour de France The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was... |
11 | 1 | Santiago Botero Santiago Botero Santiago Botero Echeverry is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a España... |
| 2003 2003 Tour de France The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages... |
8 | 2 | Pierrick Fédrigo Pierrick Fédrigo Pierrick Fédrigo is a French racing cyclist who rides for . He was the French national road champion in 2005 and won Stage 14 of the 2006 Tour de France in Gap, Stage 9 of the 2009 Tour de France in Tarbes, and Stage 16 of the 2010 Tour de France in Pau... |
| 2002 2002 Tour de France The 2002 Tour de France started in Luxembourg on July 6, 2002, and ended in Paris on July 28. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps... |
16 | - | |
| 2000 2000 Tour de France The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3662.5 km... |
15 | - | |
| 1999 1999 Tour de France The 1999 Tour de France was the 86th Tour de France, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 1999. It was won by Lance Armstrong, his first of 7 consecutive wins, the most in Tour history. There were no French stage winners for the first time since the 1926 Tour de France.The 1999 edition of Tour de... |
9 | 1 | José-Luis Arrieta |
| 1998 1998 Tour de France The 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of... |
15 | 2 | Rodolfo Massi Rodolfo Massi Rodolfo Massi is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He won a stage in 1996 Giro d'Italia and 1998 Tour de France, but was expelled from the 1998 Tour de France after illegal doping was found in his hotel room... |
| 1993 1993 Tour de France The 1993 Tour de France was the 80th Tour de France, taking place July 3 to July 25, 1993. It consisted of 20 stages, over 3714.3 km, ridden at an average speed of 38.709 km/h.... |
10 | 2 | Thierry Claveyrolat Thierry Claveyrolat Thierry Claveyrolat was a French road bicycle racer. He was King of the Mountains in the 1990 Tour de France.- Racing career :... |
| 1992 1992 Tour de France The 1992 Tour de France was the 79th Tour de France, taking place July 4 to July 26, 1992. The total race distance was 21 stages over 3983 km, with riders averaging 39.504 km/h... |
14 | - | |
| 1989 1989 Tour de France The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th Tour de France, a race of 21 stages and a prologue, over 3285 km in total. In the closest tour in history, Greg LeMond was behind by 50 seconds at the start of the final stage, a time trial into Paris. LeMond rode for an average speed of 54.55 km/h ,... |
17 | - | |
| 1987 1987 Tour de France The 1987 Tour de France was the 74th Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 26, 1987. It consisted of 25 stages over 4231 km, ridden at an average speed of 36.645 km/h... |
21 | 2 | Thierry Claveyrolat Thierry Claveyrolat Thierry Claveyrolat was a French road bicycle racer. He was King of the Mountains in the 1990 Tour de France.- Racing career :... |
| 1986 1986 Tour de France The 1986 Tour de France was the 73rd Tour de France, taking place July 4 to July 27, 1986. The total race distance was 4094 km, distributed over 23 stages and a prologue. It was won by Greg LeMond, the first American to win the Tour... |
18 | - | |
| 1984 1984 Tour de France The 1984 Tour de France was the 71st Tour de France, run over 4020.9 km in 23 stages and a prologue, from 29 June to 22 July 1984.French rider Laurent Fignon won his second consecutive Tour, beating former teammate Bernard Hinault by over 10 minutes. Hinault was pursuing his fifth Tour... |
18 | - | |
| 1980 1980 Tour de France The 1980 Tour de France was the 67th Tour de France. The total distance was 3945.5 km over 22 stages, the average speed of the riders was 35.317 km/h.... |
17 | - | |
| 1979 1979 Tour de France The 1979 Tour de France was the 66th Tour de France, taking place June 27 to July 22, 1979. The total race distance was 24 stages over 3765 km, with riders averaging 36.513 km/h. It was the only tour to finish at L'Alpe d'Huez twice. It was won by Bernard Hinault, who also won the points... |
17 | 2 | Giovanni Battaglin Giovanni Battaglin Giovanni Battaglin is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1981 Giro d'Italia. He also won the 1981 Vuelta a España.-Early years:... |
| 1974 1974 Tour de France The 1974 Tour de France was the 61st Tour de France, taking place June 27 to July 21, 1974. It consisted of 22 stages over 4098 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.241 km/h... |
11 | 2 | Herman Van Springel Herman Van Springel Herman van Springel is a Belgian former road racing cyclist, from Grobbendonk, in the Flemish Campine or Kempen region.He was an accomplished time-trial rider, almost winning the Tour de France in 1968, when he was beaten in the last stage by Dutchman, Jan Janssen in a time-trial... |
| 1973 1973 Tour de France The 1973 Tour de France was the 60th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 22, 1973. It consisted of 20 stages over 4140.4 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.918 km/h. After winning the 1973 Vuelta a España and the 1973 Giro d'Italia, Eddy Merckx did not participate in the Tour... |
8 | - | |
| 1972 1972 Tour de France The 1972 Tour de France was the 59th Tour de France, taking place July 1 to July 22, 1972. It consisted of 20 stages over 3846.6 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.371 km/h. The long awaited clash between Eddy Merckx and Luis Ocaña after Ocaña crashed on Col de Menté in the 1971 Tour de... |
14a | 3 | Pietro Campagnari |
| 1969 1969 Tour de France The 1969 Tour de France was the 56th Tour de France, taking place June 28 to July 20, 1969. It consisted of 22 stages over 4110 km , ridden at an average speed of 35.409 km/h... |
10 | 2 | Joaquim Galera Joaquim Galera Joaquim Galera Magdelano is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer.- Palmarès :1965- External links :*... |
| 1967 1967 Tour de France The 1967 Tour de France was the 54th Tour de France, taking place June 29 to July 23, 1967. It consisted of 22 stages over 4780 km, ridden at 35.018 km/h... |
10 | 2 | Julio Jiménez Julio Jimenez Julio Jiménez Muñoz is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. Known as a climbing specialist, he captured six King of the Mountains jerseys at the Grand Tours... |
| 1966 1966 Tour de France The 1966 Tour de France was the 53rd Tour de France, taking place June 21 to July 14, 1966. It consisted of 22 stages over 4303 km, ridden at an average speed of 36.760 km/h.... |
16 | 2 | Julio Jimenez Julio Jimenez Julio Jiménez Muñoz is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. Known as a climbing specialist, he captured six King of the Mountains jerseys at the Grand Tours... |
| 1964 1964 Tour de France The 1964 Tour de France was the 51st Tour de France, taking place June 22 to July 14, 1964. The total race distance was 22 stages over 4504 km, with riders averaging 35.419 km/h. Stages 3, 10 and 22 were all two part stages with one the first half being a regular stage and the second half... |
8 | 2 | Federico Bahamontes Federico Bahamontes Federico Martín Bahamontes is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist.-Biography:Bahamontes was born in Santo Domingo-Caudilla , of Cuban descent. His family was devastated during the Spanish civil war and Bahamontes' father, Julián, took the family to Madrid as refugees... |
| 1959 1959 Tour de France The 1959 Tour de France was the 46th Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 18 July 1959. The race featured 120 riders, of which 65 finished. The Tour included 22 stages over 4,391 km, and the winner had an average speed of 35.474 km/h.... |
18 | - | |
| 1957 1957 Tour de France The 1957 Tour de France was the 44th Tour de France, taking place June 27 to July 20, 1957. It was composed of 22 stages over 4665 km, ridden at an average speed of 34.250 km/h.... |
10 | 2 | Gastone Nencini Gastone Nencini Gastone Nencini was an Italian road racing cyclist who won the 1960 Tour de France and the 1957 Giro d'Italia.... |
| 1955 1955 Tour de France The 1955 Tour de France was the 42nd Tour de France, taking place from July 7 to July 30, 1955. It consisted of 22 stages over 4495 km, ridden at an average speed of 34.446 km/h.... |
8 | 2 | Charly Gaul Charly Gaul Charly Gaul was a professional cyclist. He was a national cyclo-cross champion, an accomplished time triallist and a better climber. His ability earned him the nickname of The Angel of the Mountains in the 1958 Tour de France, which he won with four stage victories... |
| 1954 1954 Tour de France The 1954 Tour de France was the 41st Tour de France, taking place from July 8 to August 1, 1954. It consisted of 23 stages over 4656 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.229 km/h.... |
19 | HC Hors Categorie Hors catégorie is a French term used in cycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization", an incredibly tough climb. Most climbs in cycling are designated from Category 1 to Category 4 , based on both steepness and length... |
Jean Dotto Jean Dotto Jean-Baptiste Dotto was the first French racing cyclist to win the Vuelta a España. He rode the Tour de France 13 times, coming fourth in 1954.... |
| 1952 1952 Tour de France The 1952 Tour de France was the 39th Tour de France, taking place June 25 to July 19, 1952. It was composed of 23 stages over 4807 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.739 km/h. Newly introduced were the arrivals on mountain peaks.... |
11 | - | |
| 1948 1948 Tour de France The 1948 Tour de France was the 35th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1948. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,922 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.443 km/h.... |
14 | - | |
| 1947 1947 Tour de France The 1947 Tour de France was the 34th Tour de France, taking place from 25 June to 20 July 1947. The total race distance was 21 stages over 4,640 km, ridden at an average speed of 31.412 km/h... |
8 | 1 | Fermo Camellini Fermo Camellini Fermo Camellini was an Italian-French road bicycle racer who became a naturalized French citizen on October 8, 1948. He won the Paris–Nice in 1946 and the Flèche Wallonne in 1948, as well as two stages at the 1947 Tour de France. He also wore the maglia rosa during three stages of 1946 Giro d'Italia... |
See also
- List of highest paved roads in Europe
- List of mountain passes
- Fort du TélégrapheFort du TélégrapheThe Fort du Télégraphe, or Fort Berwick, is located in the Maurienne valley on the road to the Col du Galibier between Valloire and Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, at the Col du Télégraphe, dominating the valley of the Arc...
, the fortification at the crest of the pass, the location of the semaphore station that gave the pass its name