Asphalt must have been in short supply when the Col de Beyrède was paved. It’s the only explanation I can think of for its sadistic steepness: that there simply wasn’t enough road to take a less severe route to its 1,417m summit.
This is the unknown Pyrenees. We’re barely two kilometres from one of the range’s most famous climbs yet the one we’re on is almost entirely overlooked. The Strava stats at the time of writing reveal that fewer than 1,000 users have climbed Beyrède. Maybe most people know better.
The Col du Tourmalet, by contrast, needs little introduction. No climb has featured more frequently in the Tour de France. This titan of the borderlands rises to 2,115m and this year marks its 90th appearance in the Tour since it was first scaled in 1910. In fact, last year it hosted three Grand Tours, with the Tour, Tour de France Femmes and Vuelta a España all having summit finishes atop its slopes. Such is
