Col d'Izoard

Col d'Izoard (2360 m) is a mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France.

It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the south. There are forbidding and barren scree slopes with protruding pinnacles of weathered rock on the upper south side. Known as the Casse Déserte, this area has formed a dramatic backdrop to some key moments in the Tour de France and at times in the Giro d'Italia, and often featured in iconic 1950s black-and-white photos of the race.

Details of the climb
From the south, the climb starts at Guillestre from where it is 31.5 km in length, at an average gradient of 4.8%. The climb proper starts at the junction with the D947, near Chateau Queyras from where the ascent is 15.9 km long. Over this distance, the climb gains 1095 m at an average of 6.9% and a maximum sustained gradient of 10%.

The climb from Briançon, to the north-west, via Cervières to the col is 19 km in length, climbing 1105 m at an average gradient of 5.8% and a maximum gradient of 8.9%.

On both sides mountain pass cycling milestones are placed every kilometre. They indicate the current height, the height of the summit, the distance to the summit, as well as the average slope in the following kilometre.

In general, the col is closed from October to early June.

Tour de France
The Col d'Izoard is frequently on the route of the Tour de France, where it is frequently classified as an Hors Categorie climb. Warren Barguil won the 2017 Tour de France's Stage 18, becoming the first cyclist to win a Tour de France stage that finished on the Col d'Izoard - it has been on the route 34 times previously in the Tour de France since 1922 but never before had a stage finished there.

Several of the Tour de France's more memorable moments have occurred on the Col d'Izoard, particularly the exploits of Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Louison Bobet and Bernard Thévenet. A small cycling museum is at the summit, along with a memorial to Coppi and Bobet.

Giro d'Italia
The Col d'Izoard was 7 times on the route of the Giro d'Italia. The most famous passage over the Col was in 1949, when Coppi beat Bartali in the memorable stage from Cuneo to Pinerolo, taking the pink jersey.