Col du Galibier (sud)Cat 2
Same climb, other sideCol du Galibier34.89 km · 5.5%
- 8.58 km
- Length
- 6.7%
- Average
- 573 m
- Elevation gain
- 11.0%
- Steepest 500 m
- 2,635 m(GPX)
- Summit
The south side, and the short way up. You start at 2,061 metres at the Col du Lautaret, so there are only 573 metres of climbing left to the top. There is no forest up here and nothing that shelters you — open high mountain from the first pedal stroke. It is the altitude, more than the gradient, that makes this one harder than it looks.
How long will Col du Galibier (sud) take you?
A rider at 3.0 W/kg takes about 41 minutes to climb Col du Galibier (sud).
Put in your weight and the average power you hold on the gradient. We add 9 kg for bike and kit. The model works the time out from physics, and it has been tested against real rides.
Riders
The road
The Col du Lautaret sits on the D1091 between Grenoble and Briançon and is cleared all year. The D902 turns off there towards the Galibier, and that section is closed from October to late May.
The pass road opened in 1891. The tunnel under the summit was closed in 1976 and reopened to cars in 2002. The cycling road goes over the pass rather than through it.
From the top you look north into the Tarentaise and south to the Écrins massif, with La Meije nearest.
The climb
It is not steep at the start. The first kilometre sits at five per cent, and the next three kilometres rise to around seven and a half per cent.
The middle eases again — kilometres five to eight sit between six and seven per cent. Use them to save rather than to push, because the last kilometre to the pass is over ten per cent and the steepest on the climb.
The real question is not the gradient, though. You are above 2,000 metres the whole way and above 2,500 for the last kilometre, and that costs more than the percentages suggest.
