Port de Balès

Infobox Mountain Pass
Name = Port de Balès
Photo =
Caption =
Elevation = m to ft|num=1755|abbr=no|spell=Commonwealth|precision=0|wiki=yes
Location = Hautes-Pyrénées, FRA
Range = Pyrenees
Coordinates = coord|42|52|27|N|0|30|03|E|region:FR_type:pass
Topographic

Transversed by = D925/D51The Port de Balès (or Col de Balès) is a high mountain pass in the central Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France. It connects the village of Ferrère (to the north) to that of Bourg-d'Oueil, Haute-Garonne (south-east).

The Port de Balès was featured in the 2007 Tour de France (15th stage). It is generally closed by snow for long periods during the winter but remains popular with bikers during the summer.

History

The Port de Balès was for a long time ignored by the modern world. Located between the Barousse valley to the north and the Oueil valley above Bagnères-de-Luchon, it was served only by one narrow track from the north until the beginning of the 1980s. Then several forest tracks were opened above Ferrère to serve the mountain pastures. A few years later, another track was built from Bourg d'Oueil. This track was continued to the Col de Pierrefite giving access to the Bareilles and Louron valleys.

These tracks were only suitable for agricultural and forestry vehicles, or cars equipped with 4-wheel drive, but the main route over the col was given a treatment of tarmac in the 1980s. [IGN Pyrénées carte de randonnés n^o 5, Edition 4 1991] By the end of the 1990s this had deteriorated severely, [Sidford, Matthew (2003) " [http://www.ocd.org.uk/ocd-guides/west-pyr-guide/w-pyr-area5.html Cycloclimbing Guide to the West Pyrenees] " Ordre des Cols Durs (UK)] and remained virtually impassable until resurfaced during the summer of 2006. This was partly done at the instigation of the Tour de France organisers, who were looking for new challenges with which to confront the tour riders. The 2007 Tour de France crossed the col for the first time on stage 15 (on 23 July). This stage was selected for the 2007 L'Étape du Tour, in which amateur and club riders ride over a full stage of the tour.

Details of climb

Starting from Mauléon-Barousse, the climb is 18.87 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 1185 m. at an average percentage of 6.3 %, with the steepest sections at over 11%.

Starting from Bagnères-de-Luchon, the climb is 19.66 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 1125 m. at an average percentage of 5.7 %, but with several sections over 11%. At its southern end, the climb starts on the foot of the climb to the Col de Peyresourde which has been used many times in the Tour de France.

Appearances in Tour de France

References

* [http://www.pyrenees-pireneus.com/COL-65-Bales.htm Port de Balès fr]

External links

* [http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?Col=Port-de-Bales&qryMountainID=7057 Profile on climbbybike.com]
* [http://www.rapha.cc/index.php?page=303 Very detailed summary of the climb from the north]
* [http://mrambaul.club.fr/montagnes/cols__b/bales.htm Climb profiles fr]