Col de la Croix de Fer
Mountain pass — 2,067 m
Show it on the map- Days recorded
- 22Grand Tour days on this road
- Open on the map
- 8stages we hold the route for
- Years covered
- 1947–2026first to most recent
- Sides raced
- 3directions in the record
The pass of the iron cross: a long, irregular climb past dams and alpine meadows, crossed over 20 times, often paired with the Glandon and Alpe d'Huez. It can be climbed from three sides — the east from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, the north over the Col du Glandon from La Chambre, and the long west side up the Romanche from Le Bourg-d'Oisans.
The record
Raced here
8 of 22 open on the mapEvery Grand Tour day recorded on this road, newest first. The ones we hold the route for open on the map with that stage selected; the rest are the archive’s own account, most of them from before route data existed.
- 2026
Tour de France · Stage 20
Won by Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro
Rochetaillée / Le Bourg-d'Oisans (west)
- 2022
Tour de France · Stage 12
Won by Tom Pidcock
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (east)
Crossed mid-stage on the Bastille Day route to the Alpe, with the GC group riding tempo behind Pidcock's flying descent off the Galibier.
- 2018
- 2017
- 2015
Tour de France · Stage 20
Won by Thibaut Pinot
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (east)
On the Tour's last mountain day, Nairo Quintana attacked Chris Froome over the Croix de Fer and clawed back over a minute — not quite enough, as Froome held on by 72 seconds in Paris.
- 2012
- 2008
- 2006
Stage 16 · first to the top: Michael Rasmussen (DEN)
- 1999
Stage 10 · first to the top: Stéphane Heulot (FRA)
- 1998
Stage 15 · first to the top: Rodolfo Massi (ITA)
- 1995
Stage 10 · first to the top: Richard Virenque (FRA)
- 1992
Stage 14 · first to the top: Éric Boyer (FRA)
- 1989
Stage 17 · first to the top: Gert-Jan Theunisse (NED)
- 1986
Stage 18 · Briançon → Alpe d'Huez
Won by Bernard Hinault (FRA)
Hinault and LeMond broke away together over the Croix de Fer before their famous hand-in-hand finish on Alpe d'Huez.
- 1966
Stage 16 · first to the top: Joaquim Galera (ESP)
- 1963
Stage 16 · first to the top: Claude Mattio (FRA)
- 1961
Stage 10 · first to the top: Guy Ignolin (FRA)
- 1956
Stage 18 · first to the top: René Marigil (ESP)
- 1952
Stage 11 · first to the top: Fausto Coppi (ITA)
- 1948
Stage 14 · first to the top: Gino Bartali (ITA)
- 1947
Stage 8 · first to the top: Fermo Camellini (ITA)
Often ridden with
A Grand Tour stage rarely settles for one col. Col de la Croix de Fer has shared a day's racing with each of these roads.