La Pyrénéenne 2026

The route

Argelès-Gazost lies in the Lourdes valley at the foot of the Tourmalet, and it is the start point for La Pyrénéenne on 5 July. Two distances: 145 km and 90 km. The undisputed centrepiece is the Col du Tourmalet at 2,115 metres, the most frequently included climb in Tour de France history and the highest pass in the French Pyrenees. There are sportives with harder statistics, but few carry the symbolic weight of the Tourmalet. If you have spent years watching that name come up on Tour broadcasts, climbing the same road on the same July date has a weight that is hard to articulate until you have done it.

The 145 km route covers the Hautes-Pyrénées massif with the Tourmalet as the central summit. The climb from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan on the eastern side is the better-known approach — sustained gradients without extreme ramps, the friendlier face of the pass. The descent towards Luz-Saint-Sauveur on the western side is more technical. The 90 km option still includes the Tourmalet but with a shorter approach and a more accessible profile for riders without a deep mountain base. July coincides with the Tour de France, which fills the whole area with cycling atmosphere.

July in the Hautes-Pyrénées means 22-28°C in the Lourdes valley and 6-12°C on the Tourmalet — a meaningful thermal gap but not an extreme one. Wind on the Tourmalet follows a well-defined pattern: southerly upslope flow in the morning, which can be a genuine tailwind if you are climbing from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan. By afternoon, when Atlantic systems approach, the wind shifts to the north, cold and stronger, with gusts reaching 35-45 km/h at the summit. The morning window for better conditions at the top exists, but it does not guarantee anything. Wind at 2,000 metres is inherently unpredictable.

Argelès-Gazost is 15 minutes from Lourdes, which has a small airport with seasonal flights from several European cities. In July, the Lourdes valley and Tourmalet area fills with Tour followers and cyclists, which means accommodation needs to be booked far in advance. For the Tourmalet in July: warm layers for the summit, a waterproof for the afternoon, and genuine respect for the 15-20°C temperature difference between the valley and the top.

Variants and GPX

Past editions

Real Open-Meteo weather on each edition day.

How to register

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