Video: Mike Cotty heads up the Col de Peyresourde for the Col Collective

Mike Cotty is back in the Pyrenees for the latest video from the Col Collective, this time tackling the Col de Peyresourde, a climb regularly visited by the Tour de France since the race first headed into the mountains in 1910.

The first man over the top then was eventual winner Octave Lapize, from a reduced field compared to the previous year, with 26 prospective participants withdrawing their entries after the Pyrenean stage was announced.

For the remaining 110, the race also saw the first-time inclusion of the voiture balai, or broom wagon – although those who climbed aboard it before the end of the Tour’s first ever mountain stage were allowed to start the next day.

More than a century on, it is still a challenging climb, as Cotty explains after the video.

As one of the oldest climbs in the Tour de France, first featuring in 1910, starting from the spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon the Col de Peyresourde is a deceptively tough ascent. 14.5km in length and although only climbing at an average gradient of 6.5% up to 1,569 metres above sea level don’t be fooled by the numbers.

The road ramps up straight out of Luchon, continually tickling the legs and edging you ever closer towards the red. It was on this very road that during the 2007 L’Etape du Tour the furnace-like summer sun did everything in its powers to melt the tarmac and make it feel like I was wading through quicksand.

The Peyresourde’s a cunning little fox, regularly applying the pressure and threatening to turn you around and send you packing back to Luchon for an early shower. Take your time, keep the faith, and you will be rewarded for all your hard work.

With 4 kilometres to go the road opens up to reveal the Midi-Pyrenees in all its finest, putting everything in perspective once more. The climb is one thing but the descent is something else altogether. Without doubt, an absolute masterpiece of a mountain.

Vital statistics

Start: Bagnères-de-Luchon
Length: 14.5km
Summit: 1,569m
Elevation gain: 944m
Average gradient: 6.5%
Max gradient: 12%

You’ll find videos of other iconic climbs and much more on the Col Collective website.