Alpe d'Huez
Climb · French Alps
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part of: Hairpin heaven: the most switchbacks on one climbpart of: The vertical kilometre club
Alpe d'Huez is a 13.9 km cycling climb averaging 8.0% (+1111 m), rising from 718 m to 1828 m in French Alps.
The Tour's mountain: the first summit finish in race history in 1952, won by Coppi, and Dutch property from 1976 on, with eight of the first fourteen wins and bend 7 permanently Dutch Corner. Twenty-one hairpins each carry a stage winner's name; Pantani's 37:35 stood as the reference for nearly three decades until Pogačar's 35:27 in 2026.
13.9 km · +1111 m · 8.0% avg · ~12.0% max · 718 → 1828 m · 22 hairpins
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Download GPX ↓Navigate to the foot ↗
Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 12.0% (km 7–7.4).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 764 m | 5.0% |
| 2 | 868 m | 10.2% |
| 3 | 974 m | 10.0% |
| 4 | 1058 m | 8.9% |
| 5 | 1132 m | 7.4% |
| 6 | 1222 m | 8.5% |
| 7 | 1303 m | 8.4% |
| 8 | 1391 m | 9.2% |
| 9 | 1475 m | 8.0% |
| 10 | 1540 m | 6.8% |
| 11 | 1633 m | 9.3% |
| 12 | 1730 m | 9.2% |
| 13 | 1796 m | 6.4% |
What it’s like to ride
Twenty-one numbered bends count down from 21 at the bottom to 1 at the top, each signed with the name of a Tour stage winner, so you always know exactly what is left. The hard part comes first: the six bends up to La Garde average around 11%, and the 200 m of 6.5 to 7% through the hamlet at bend 16 is the first place you can drink and reset. After that the road settles to a steady 8 to 9% that feels almost kind by comparison, past the church of Saint-Ferréol on its short flat at bend 7, the corner the Dutch take over during the Tour. Fill a bottle at the fountain by the Huez cemetery at 1390 m, because the climb gets very hot in summer with the sun coming back off the tarmac and the walls. The bends from 5 to 0 are as hard as anything at the bottom, then the gradient drops to 5-6% for the last three kilometres, the Grandes Rousses massif ahead of you, through the tunnel at Vieil Alpe and out onto a flat run into the resort, where there are cafés over the final kilometre.
History
The road from Bourg d'Oisans climbed the mountain in stages, reaching the villages of La Garde and Huez in 1881 and the alp itself in the 1920s at barely four metres wide. In 1935 the Isère politician Joseph Paganon brought in a turbine snowplough to keep it open through winter, and in 1936 found the money to rebuild it seven metres wide with 21 hairpins so that coaches and lorries could serve the ski resort growing at the top; the bends are the flattest part of the climb because they were engineered for those vehicles rather than for racing. On 4 July 1952 the road hosted the first summit finish in Tour de France history, a 252 km stage from Lausanne that Fausto Coppi won with an ascent of 45min 22sec, taking a yellow jersey he held to Paris. Organisers judged the experiment a failure and did not return until 1976, when the hotelier Georges Rajon again paid to bring the race up: Joop Zoetemelk won that day, Dutch riders took eight of the first fourteen victories here, and bend 7 has been Dutch Corner ever since. In 1995 the name of every Alpe stage winner was added to the numbered signs on the bends, and in 2004 the Tour raced the climb as an individual time trial. Marco Pantani's 37min 35sec from 1997 stood as the reference time for nearly three decades, until Tadej Pogacar climbed it in 35min 27sec to win stage 19 on 24 July 2026.
More climbs in French Alps
Common questions
- How long and steep is Alpe d'Huez?
- Alpe d'Huez is a 13.9 km cycling climb averaging 8.0% (+1111 m), rising from 718 m to 1828 m in French Alps.
- Where is Alpe d'Huez steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 12.0%, between km 7 and km 7.4 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Alpe d'Huez have?
- Alpe d'Huez has 22 hairpin bends, counted from the road's map geometry (a hairpin here means at least 150 degrees of turning completed within 150 metres of road). Painted corner numbers on some climbs count gentler bends too, so the two figures can differ.