Col de Port
| Col de Port |
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Col de Port (el. 1249 m.) is a mountain pass in the French Pyrenees between Massat and Tarascon-sur-Ariège in the “massif de l'Arize”. It links the Couserans and Ariège valleys.
The pass is used occasionally in the Tour de France and is popular with touring cyclists.
The name of the pass is tautological as Col means pass in French and Port means pass in Occitan.
Details of the climb
Starting from the D 8/ D 618 junction, (Tarascon-sur-Ariège) (east) the Col de Port is 17 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 777 m. (an average of 4.6%). The steepest section is 9.2%.
Starting from Massat, (west) the Col de Port is 12.8 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 601 m. (an average of 4.7%).
From Massat, the D18 to the south links with the route from Aulus-les-Bains and Vicdessos between the Col d'Agnes (1570 m.) and the Port de Lers (1517 m.)
Tour de France
The Col de Port was first used in the Tour de France in 1910. The first cyclist over the summit was Octave Lapize.
Appearances in the Tour de France (since 1947)
The Tour de France has crossed the summit 9 times since 1947, including on stage 15 of the 2007 tour. The 15th stage was selected for the 2007 L'Étape du Tour, in which amateur and club riders ride over a full stage of the tour.
| Year | Stage | Category | Start | Finish | Leader at the summit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 15 | 2 | Foix | Loudenvielle | Juan Manuel Garate |
| 2002 | 12 | 2 | Lannemezan | Plateau de Beille | Laurent Jalabert |
| 1998 | 11 | 2 | Bagnères-de-Luchon | Plateau de Beille | Roland Meier |
| 1997 | 10 | 2 | Bagnères-de-Luchon | Andorra-Arcalis | Laurent Brochard |
| 1976 | 13 | 2 | Font-Romeu | Saint-Gaudens | Roland Smet |
| 1968 | 13 | 3 | Saint-Gaudens | La Seu d'Urgell | Andres Gandarias |
| 1965 | 10 | 3 | Bagnères-de-Bigorre | Ax-les-Thermes | Rik Van Looy |
| 1957 | 17 | HC | Ax-les-Thermes | Saint-Gaudens | Désiré Keteleer |
| 1947 | 14 | 2 | Carcassonne | Bagnères-de-Luchon | Albert Bourlon |