Hautacam and Luz Ardiden
102 km · 2,550 m · Argelès-Gazost
- Base
- Argelès-Gazost
- Distance
- 102 km
- Elevation gain
- 2,550 m
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Type
- Out and back
- Highest point
- Luz Ardiden, 1,715 m
- Cols
- Hautacam (the Tour finish) (1,520 m), Luz Ardiden (1,715 m)
- Season
- May–October
Two classic Tour de France summit finishes in one day. Hautacam (17.3 km, 1170 hm from Argelès) is irregular, with short ramps of over 10 per cent, and has been a decisive stage several times, most recently when Pogačar won in 2025. Luz Ardiden (14.7 km, 1010 hm) is a more rhythmic climb with some thirty hairpins up to the ski resort, where Miguel Induráin won the stage in 1990 and Lance Armstrong crashed but still won in 2003. Between the climbs you roll through the gorge from Pierrefitte to Luz.
TipsNo services at either summit outside the ski season; fill up with water in Argelès and Luz. The last stretch to the Hautacam ski station may be closed; the Tour finish is at 1520 m. Both roads are dead ends with little traffic. Can be cut down to one of the climbs for a moderate half-day.
Nearby
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Cycling rides
- Gavarnie from Luz-Saint-Sauveur40 km · 700 m · Easy
- Cerdagne loop over the Col de la Perche55 km · 800 m · Easy
- Aubisque and Soulor from Laruns55 km · 1,550 m · Moderate
- Col de Marie-Blanque loop from Arudy60 km · 1,000 m · Moderate
- Col du Pourtalet to Formigal and Sallent82 km · 1,800 m · Moderate
- Port de Larrau and Pierre-Saint-Martin, French–Spanish loop127 km · 3,000 m · Very hard
- The Tourmalet from both sides72 km · 2,700 m · Hard
- Peyresourde and Aspin from Luchon88 km · 2,650 m · Hard
- The Tour's 65-kilometre stage: Luchon–Col de Portet65 km · 3,000 m · Hard
- Port de Balès and Peyresourde from Luchon88 km · 2,300 m · Hard
- The big Comminges loop: Ares, Balès, Menté and Portet d'Aspet133 km · 3,300 m · Very hard
- Col de Port and Mur de Péguère from Foix74 km · 1,750 m · Hard
- Latrape, Saraillé and Col d'Agnes from Aulus76 km · 1,950 m · Hard
- The Pailhères from both sides and Ax 3 Domaines75 km · 2,850 m · Hard
- Coll d'Ordino and Beixalís from Andorra la Vella62 km · 1,700 m · Moderate
- Port de la Bonaigua from Vielha46 km · 1,150 m · Moderate
- The queen stage Pau–Luchon (the Circle of Death in reverse)197 km · 4,800 m · Very hard