Alpe d’Huez isn’t the longest or highest pass in the Alps, but it’s arguably the most famous: its 21 numbered hairpins, climbed by the Tour de France since 1952, have made it an instantly recognisable legend of cycling.
21 hairpins, a cycling legend
From Le Bourg-d’Oisans, the road climbs 13.8 km for 1,071 m of elevation gain, averaging 7.9% and exceeding 13% on the first few hairpins — the hardest part of the climb. Each numbered bend, counting down from 21 to 1, carries a plaque bearing the name of a Tour de France stage winner at Alpe d’Huez.
Hairpin 7 is particularly well known as the “Dutch corner,” where thousands of Dutch fans gather every year during the Tour’s passage, in memory of the many Dutch victories on this climb in the 1970s and 80s.
Getting the ride right
The steepest gradient sits in the first hairpins, before the climb gradually eases toward the summit. A compact or triple crankset is still recommended to manage this irregularity, especially in the summer heat on this fairly sun-exposed face.
When to go
May to September, with June and September preferable to avoid the peak-summer crowds of tourists and cyclosportive riders — the road can get very busy with cyclists in July-August.
Good to know
Le Bourg-d’Oisans offers a wide choice of accommodation and bike rental shops used to a cyclosportive clientele, with convenient access to the Oisans massif’s other passes (Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Glandon) to extend a col-hunting trip.
