Short but genuinely steep, Col de Romme most often serves as the opening act before Col de la Colombière, forming with it one of the most feared doubles in the Northern Alps.
A steep ascent from the first hundred metres
From Cluses, it’s 9.3 km for 813 m of elevation gain, averaging 8.7%, with ramps exceeding 13% within the first kilometre. The profile offers little respite before the summit, at 1,297 m, where the road tips over toward Le Reposoir before plunging back down into the Colombière.
The Romme-Colombière double at the Tour de France
Col de Romme has become a classic approach to the Colombière, regularly used by the Tour de France. In 2018, on stage 10, Julian Alaphilippe crested Romme first before winning at the top of the Colombière — a double that marked the start of his conquest of the polka-dot jersey that season. Fränk Schleck (2009) and Michael Woods (2021) also crested the col first before him.
Getting the ride right
A compact chainset makes the ramps over 13% near the bottom manageable without blowing up too early, especially since the immediate link into the Colombière leaves little time to recover.
When to go
May to October — the road further up toward the Colombière typically closes for the winter when snow arrives, roughly from late December to the end of March.
Good to know
Cluses, the starting town at the bottom of the Arve valley, makes it easy to reach other major Haute-Savoie climbs, a practical base for stringing together several ascents over a multi-day trip.
