The Col du Granon (2,413m) is a pass in Haute-Alpes department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
In the 1930s an infantry structure was built near the summit, but the Granon has never been the scene of fighting.
However, the 7th Battalion of the Alpine Hunters – Les Diables Bleus – sometimes use it as a field for military exercises.
Tour de France
During the 1986 edition of the Tour de France, the finish of the 17th stage from Gap was the first finish at the pass.
That was the stage that Bernard Hinault lost his yellow jersey to the Greg LeMond, who went on to win the Tour.
Hinault later recollected his memories of that ascent: “I don’t remember suffering from the lack of oxygen, but rather from the hard slope without any respite.”
Obviously, I only found that quote after I experienced that myself…
Until 2011, when the Col du Galibier (2,642 m) was in the 18th stage, it was the highest stage finish in the history of the Tour.
Stage 11 of the Tour de France 2022, with the finish on the Granon summit, was won by Jonas Vingegaard who took the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogačar and went on to win that Tour.
Briançon
From Briançon, the ascent is 16.8 kilometers long, at an average of 7.1%.
But the first 5.5 kilometers of it are little more than false flat and the real climb starts when you turn right from the main road onto the Route du Granon.
After the first kilometer, the real misery starts at le Villard-Laté: 10.5 kilometers at a relentless 9.5% – 5.6 kilometers above 10%, 5 kilometers at 9.8% and a steepest kilometer at 11.3%.
Yikes…
The landscape and the views higher up are breathtaking, though.
I cycled the Granon during my Tour de France 2017, stage 5, when we stayed in Brainçon.
There’s an unpaved route from the east, starting in Val-des-Prés. It’s 15.3 kilometers at an average of 6.6%, but higher up the gradients match those of the Briançon end….
