French Alps

The giant of the Tour de France. The race has crossed the Galibier 64 times and only a handful of climbs have seen it more. The first crossing in 1911 took the peloton higher than any rider had ever raced, with Emile Georget first over the top. Henri Desgrange's monument stands near the summit and receives a wreath every time the race passes. From Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne the full ascent runs almost 35 kilometres over two summits, the Télégraphe first and then the long open climb from Valloire to 2,642 metres. Pantani launched his 1998 masterpiece here, Andy Schleck won on the summit itself in 2011, the highest finish in Tour history, and the 2026 queen stage crosses it again.

The iron cross at 2,067 metres and the strangest giant in the Alps. From Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne the climb runs 28 kilometres up the Arvan valley, and the average gradient of five and a half percent is a statistical joke because the road twice tips downhill mid climb and pays the altitude back with interest. The steepest kilometre runs close to ten percent. The Tour has come this way around 22 times since 1947 and opens its 2026 queen stage over it, the long way round to the Galibier and the Alpe. The summit ridge with its small iron cross looks across at the Aiguilles d'Arves, three teeth in a row, one of the great views in French cycling.

The Croix de Fer's wilder twin. The two cols share a mountain and their roads fork just 2.5 kilometres below the tops, but they are different animals. From La Chambre the Glandon climbs nearly 21 kilometres up a narrow, shaded valley, and it saves its violence for the end, a final three kilometres that sit near ten percent when everything in your legs is already spent. This north side is the classic ambush ramp, the place where Tour contenders have been isolated and broken across roughly 15 visits since 1947. Ride it with the Croix de Fer in one loop and you will understand the Maurienne in a single day.