Pla d'Adet
Summit finish — 1,680 m
Show it on the map- Days recorded
- 11Grand Tour days on this road
- Open on the map
- 2stages we hold the route for
- Years covered
- 1974–2024first to most recent
- Approach
- Oneone side on record
The ski station above Saint-Lary-Soulan, and the Pyrenean summit finish the Tour keeps coming back to: eleven finishes since 1974. The climb starts at Vignec on the edge of the village and runs 10.7 km at 8% to 1,680 m, with ramps over 12% in its first kilometres; the 2005 finish was 11 m lower. Its first 7.5 km is the D123 that the Col de Portet borrows — the newer climb turns off at Espiaube, where this road swings back east to the station instead.
The climb
The climb, from the foot.
The record
Raced here
2 of 11 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.
- 2024
Tour de France · Stage 14
Won by Tadej Pogačar
- 2014
Tour de France · Stage 17
Won by Rafał Majka
- 2005
Stage 15 · Lézat-sur-Lèze → Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet
Won by George Hincapie (USA)
Armstrong's long-serving lieutenant went up the road on a 205 km Pyrenean stage and won it, out-sprinting Óscar Pereiro by six seconds after the two rode clear of the break. The favourites came in more than five minutes later; Armstrong kept the jersey with Ivan Basso at 2'46". Both men's results from those years were later stripped, and Wikipedia strikes this win through.
- 2001
Stage 13 · Foix → Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet
Won by Lance Armstrong (USA)
Laurent Jalabert spent most of 194 km alone off the front and was caught on the final climb, taking the mountains jersey out of it. Behind him Armstrong dropped Jan Ullrich to win by a minute and take the yellow jersey off François Simon — a result later voided. He dedicated the win to Fabio Casartelli, his team-mate, killed on the Col de Portet d'Aspet — this stage's first climb — in 1995.
- 1993
Stage 16 · Andorra → Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet
Won by Zenon Jaskuła (POL)
230 km across the Pyrenees, and the one day Tony Rominger got away from Miguel Indurain — by three seconds. Jaskuła beat Rominger to the line with Indurain just behind, and the yellow jersey went on to Paris untroubled; Jaskuła's ride moved him to third overall, where he finished.
- 1982
Stage 13 · Pau → Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet
Won by Beat Breu (SUI)
A short mountain stage of 121 km settled on the last climb: the Swiss climber Breu took it by 35 seconds from Robert Alban, while Bernard Hinault finished sixth at 54 seconds and kept the yellow jersey, more than three minutes up on Phil Anderson.
- 1981
Stage 6 · first to the top: Lucien Van Impe (BEL)
- 1978
Stage 11 · first to the top: Mariano Martínez (FRA)
- 1976
Stage 14 · Saint-Gaudens → Saint-Lary-Soulan
Won by Lucien Van Impe (BEL)
The day Van Impe won the Tour. He went clear and took the stage by 3'12" from Joop Zoetemelk, turning a deficit into the yellow jersey he held to Paris. His directeur sportif Cyrille Guimard claimed the attack was his order, shouted from the team car with a threat to run his own rider off the road; Van Impe has always denied it.
- 1975
Stage 11 · first to the top: Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
- 1974
Stage 16 · La Seu d'Urgell → Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet
Won by Raymond Poulidor (FRA)
The climb's debut, at the end of 209 km. Poulidor, 38 years old, won his first Tour stage since 1965 by 41 seconds from Vicente López Carril; Eddy Merckx came in 1'49" down and kept the yellow jersey he would carry to a record-equalling fifth win. Basque separatists blew up Tour vehicles at Saint-Lary-Soulan during the race's days in the Pyrenees, and Spanish champion López Carril rode without his national jersey rather than carry a Spanish flag.
Often ridden with
A Grand Tour stage rarely settles for one col. Pla d'Adet has shared a day's racing with each of these roads.