Col d'Izoard
Mountain pass in the French Alps
title: "Col d'Izoard" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountain-passes-of-provence-alpes-côte-d'azur", "mountain-passes-of-the-alps", "climbs-in-cycle-racing-in-france", "landforms-of-hautes-alpes", "transport-in-provence-alpes-côte-d'azur"] description: "Mountain pass in the French Alps" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_d'Izoard" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mountain pass in the French Alps ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain pass"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Col d'Izoard |
| photo | Mémorial col de l'Izoard.jpg |
| photo_caption | Memorial at the top of Col d'Izoard |
| elevation_m | 2360 |
| elevation_ref | |
| traversed | D902 |
| map | Alps |
| map_caption | Location of Col d'Izoard |
| label | Col d'Izoard |
| coords | |
| location | Hautes-Alpes, France |
| range | Alps |
| :: |
| name = Col d'Izoard | photo = Mémorial col de l'Izoard.jpg | photo_caption = Memorial at the top of Col d'Izoard | elevation_m = 2360 | elevation_ref = | traversed = D902 | map = Alps | map_caption = Location of Col d'Izoard | map_size = | label = Col d'Izoard | coords = | location = Hautes-Alpes, France | range = Alps | topo =
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.
Cycle racing
Details of the climb
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Col_d'Izoard_-_Altimetry_of_the_climb.jpg" caption="Altimetry 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 12%.
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 9.4%.
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. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/View_from_Col_d'Izoard.jpg" caption="Panoramic view from the summit"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/2014_Mountain_pass_cycling_milestone_-_Col_d'Izoard_Guillestre.jpg" caption="One of the [[mountain pass cycling milestones]] placed along the climb from Guillestre"] ::
Appearances in the Tour de France
::data[format=table]
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.
Appearances in the Giro d'Italia
::data[format=table]
| Year | Stage | Start | Finish | Leader at the summit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 12 | Scalenghe | Briançon | Danilo Di Luca |
| 2000 | 19 | Saluzzo | Briançon | Francesco Casagrande |
| 1996 | 14 | Santuario di Vicoforte | Briançon | Pascal Richard |
| 1994 | 20 | Cuneo | Les Deux Alpes | Marco Pantani |
| 1982 | 21 | Cuneo | Pinerolo | Lucien Van Impe |
| 1964 | 20 | Cuneo | Pinerolo | Franco Bitossi |
| 1949 | 17 | Cuneo | Pinerolo | Fausto Coppi |
| :: |
References
References
- [http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil?c=6.735278,44.82&z=0.000316906&l=GEOGRAPHICALGRIDSYSTEMS.MAPS.3D$GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS@aggregate(1)&permalink=yes IGN map]
- "Col d'Izoard – 2360 metres". Grenoble Cycling.
- [http://www.ulb.ac.be/di/ssd/ldoyen/e/izoard.html Université Libre de Bruxelles]
- "Col de l'Izoard from Gorges du guil (D902 / D947) : 2360m".
- "Col de l'Izoard from Briançon : 2360m".
- "Le col d'Izoard dans le Tour de France depuis 1947". ledicodutour.
- "Complete list of crossings". www.memoire-du-cyclisme.eu.
- (20 July 2017). "Tour de France 2017: Chris Froome in control, Warren Barguil wins stage 18".
- (1 July 2017). "Salite da scoprire: Col de l'Izoard". Sport Folks.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::