Tour de France 2022 Route stage 18: Lourdes

Tour de France 2022 Route stage 18: Lourdes - Hautacam

Thursday 21 July - The last high altitude test on the Tour de France is takes the riders through the Pyrenees from Lourdes to Hautacam with the Col d'Aubisque and Col de Spandelles in between. At 143 kilometres, it's not the longest mountain stage in the history of cycling.

The riders cip into their pedals near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and leave the pilgrimage site behind to enter the Pyrenees. On virtually flat roads the route travels to Laruns and after almost 60 kilometres the climbing begins.

The Col d’Aubisque is a climb of 16.4 kilometres at 7.1% before the riders descend via the Col du Soulor to Ferrières. That’s the base of the Col de Spandelles, which is a 10.3 kilometres climb at 8.3%.

A long descent leads to Argelès-Gazost, and that’s the base of the finish climb.

The ascent to ski resort Hautacam is a scenic one-way climb. The length is 13.6 kilometres and the average gradient sits at 7.8%. The second half is hardest with kilometres 8, 9 and 11 standing out standigt out – respectively with gradients at 10.3%, 11.3%, and 10.4%.

It’s the sixth time the Hautacam ascent is included in the Tour de France. Luc Leblanc won in 1994, Bjarne Riis in 1996 , Javier Otxoa in 2000, Juan José Cobo in 2008, and in 2014 Vincenzo Nibali took the win. With the exception of Otxoa and Nibali alle these riders were affiliated with doping at some point in their their career.