Tour Climbs: The complete guide to every mountain stage on the Tour de France. Chris Sidwells

      Starting at the foot of the Col de Portet d’Aspet, the Col de Menté has had a long involvement with the Tour de France. It’s a classic climb, full of history. Not a long one or that high, but it has a sinuous, secluded feel that is typical of the Pyrenees and it has an air of peace so you can really appreciate where you are.

      The climb starts at the Pont de l’Oule, and it is easy to miss if you are riding the descent of the Portet d’Aspet. You are looking for a sharp left turn about two kilometres after the Casartelli memorial. Coming in the other direction it is much easier to see the signpost to the climb.

      The first part of the climb is through the quite dense forest that grows on the sides of the Ger valley, which is especially beautiful in autumn. The first two kilometres climb at less than four percent, but then there is an 500 metre section of eleven percent that eases slightly to just under ten for the next kilometre. After that comes a short descent, then the climb starts properly.

      It’s fairly unrelenting now until the top. The road breaks from the forest and climbs a set of lacets, then spears eastwards in a straight line. This is a specially beautiful part of the climb as it traverses crazily angled fields that are studded with wild flowers. Traffic is rare because there are quicker ways into the upper Garonne valley than by the Col de Menté.

      More lacets take you to a junction with an old forest road, the Col de Clin, and from there the road goes more or less straight to the top, where a road heads off to the left through a dense pine forest to the ski station of Mourtis. The ski station has hosted two stage finishes of the Tour de France. There is a café at the top too, if you need refreshing.

      The Col de Menté is the location for one of the world’s toughest duathlon races. It comprises a nine kilometres run, an 85 kilometre bike ride that includes two ascents of the Menté, and a 16 kilometre run to finish. It’s usually held at the end of July, so it’s hot as well as hard.

       WHICH WAY?

      There aren’t many big towns close to the Col de Menté. St Gaudens is 25 kilometres away but a good base. Head southeast on the D5 until you see the right turn along the D85 signposted to the col. Follow the D85, then the D44 to the top. Otherwise you could climb the Col de Portet d’Aspet from St Girons and turn left for the Col de Menté at the end of the descent.

       The Col de Menté made its first Tour appearance in 1966. A Spaniard, Manuel Galera, was the first to the top, and since that day the Tour has been back 14 times.

       The most turbulent visit was in 1971 when Eddy Merckx was fighting Luis Ocana for overall victory. Ocana had humbled Merckx on the stage to the Alpine climb of Orcieres-Merlette and taken the lead by a huge margin. Merckx attacked every day after that and was clawing back time, but it didn’t look like it would be enough. He threw everything he had at Ocana on the Menté. Ocana resisted Merckx, but then nature stepped in. They descended the Menté in torrential rain and Ocana, trying to stay with Merckx, crashed. His injuries were too bad for the Spaniard to continue and Merckx won the Tour, but he was lucky.

      Waterfall on the descent

      Lacets on the Col de Mente

      Where Ocana fell in 1971

      Plateau de Beille

      ‘ARMSTRONG’S FAVOURITE’

       3 STARS

      Length: 15.8 km

      Altitude: 1790 metres

      Height gain: 1255 metres

      Average gradient: 7.9%

      Maximum gradient: 10.8%

      WHAT TO EXPECT

       Outdoor activities. These thrive in the Ariège valley. You can do rafting and kayaking on the river. Rock climbing and mountain biking are also very big here. For a more reflective trip try one of the cave tours, where you can see cave paintings done by the prehistoric people who used to live here.

       Shady first half. The first part of the climb runs through a forest, but shortly after the Henry IV fountain you break clear of these and you’ll feel the sun if it’s out.

       Wild boar. They live all over France, but are plentiful here. Watch out for the big ones, they can be a bit tetchy. Best to back off and let them cross in front of you if they want to.

       Cross-country skiing. The Plateau de la Beille is famous for it and has 70 kilometres of tracks in the winter.

      This shelf of land high above the Ariège valley is a relatively new climb to the Tour de France, but its severity has made it a favourite with the organisers. Since its first visit in 1998 the race has been back three times. It starts in the pretty village of Les Cabannes, and after a fairly easy first kilometre the climb gets very un-Pyrenean and the gradient remains fairly constant around six percent for the next 10 kilometres.

      Then the climb seems to remember where it is and all of a sudden you come across an absolutely flat stretch of 300 metres, after which the gradient rears up to 10.8 percent for the next kilometre, before slowly easing off to the summit.

      Les Cabannes, like many of the settlements along the bottom of the Ariège valley, owes its development to the minerals that were mined there and processed in local forges, and to the railway, which was established in 1888. In 1929 the railway linked up with Spain through the Puymorens tunnel. Les Cabannes has always been a thriving place and nothing has changed, although much of the economy is based on tourism today.

      The first part of the climb uses regular and well-constructed lacets to gain height, and you get fantastic views between the trees of the Ariège and over one of its tributary valleys, the Aston. The rock faces you can see are limestone, and it is limestone that gives the Ariège area of the Pyrenees its distinctive look. The rest of the Eastern Pyrenees are granite or gneiss, and not so easily eroded into the gorges that you find in the Ariège. To the northeast you might be able to spot the Trimouns quarry, which the biggest talc quarry in Europe

      There is a restaurant, a refuge and a large car park at the top of the climb, where the Quioules stream joins the Aston. The high mountains directly to the south of you are the French border with Andorra.

       WHICH WAY?

      Les Cabannes is 20 kilometres southeast of Foix on the N20. The road to the Plateau

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