COL D’AUBISQUE

3 September 2022 Redazione Mountain Roads

The Col d’Aubisque is a pass in the Pyrenees, very famous for being (almost) a fixed stage in the Tour de France. With an average gradient between 7.5% and 10% and with a stretch that reaches 13%, the Aubisque is not a colossus of maximum altitude, stopping at just over 1,700 meters above sea level, but it offers a spectacular panorama due to a serpentine asphalt large enough to allow you to drive smoothly, thus enjoying the immense background of the snow-capped peaks that extend as far as the eye can see. The same road, winding and with great visibility offered by the little vegetation present next to the summit not only increases driving involvement, but gives the Col the ability to instill in the climber – whether a motorist, motorcyclist or cyclist – a sort of motivational boost, in the constant search for what will be after the curves that manage to temporarily conceal the spectacular design of mother nature.

Location: Laruns – Argelès-Gazost

Type: mountain road

Length: 30 km

Elevation: 1.709 m

Coming here in summer is certainly the ideal choice to guarantee a favorable weather, but preferring the autumn season could represent an added value due to the colors that will enhance the fast sections closed in the vegetation, as well as those that run along the most dizzying kilometers close to the top, where there is a hotel restaurant with a huge parking and a priceless view of the valleys on the opposite sides. While it may be far from your starting point, it is undoubtedly a road worth driving on, let alone if you happen to be passing just a few kilometers from the Pyrenees – in that case you shouldn’t miss this.