The great passes of the Tour de France
Tourmalet
S1 • E3 Jun 25, 2013 26m
In the shadow of the Pic du Midi lies the 2,144-meter-high Pyrenean pass Col du Tourmalet, exactly between Tarbes and the Spanish border. In 1910, it was the first major climb of the Tour de France and showed spectators how difficult it is to conquer a mountain on a bicycle. Its conquerors include Octave Lapize and especially Eugène Christophe, who had to repair his broken bicycle fork himself in a blacksmith's shop. But Louison Bobet, Eddy Merckx, Greg LeMond, Miguel Indurain, Richard Virenque, Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador also shaped the history of this mountain pass in the years that followed. (Text: arte)