Race Atlas
Famous roadAlps (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), France

Pra Loup

Summit finish — ski resort, 1,630 m

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Days recorded
2Grand Tour days on this road
Open on the map
0stages we hold the route for
Years covered
1975–2015first to most recent
Approach
Oneone side on record

A short, sharp climb to a ski station above Barcelonnette, immortalised by one of the Tour's great turning points — the 1975 day Eddy Merckx's reign came to an end.

The climb

The climb, from the foot.

The record

Raced here

0 of 2 open on the map

Every 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.

  1. 2015

    Stage 17 · Digne-les-Bains → Pra-Loup

    Won by Simon Geschke (GER)

    Forty years on, Geschke soloed over the Col d'Allos and down to Pra-Loup for the stage win, while the GC men marked each other under Chris Froome's yellow jersey.

  2. 1975

    Stage 15 · Nice → Pra-Loup

    Won by Bernard Thévenet (FRA)

    Eddy Merckx, in yellow and chasing a sixth Tour, attacked hard but then cracked spectacularly; Bernard Thévenet swept past to win the stage and seize the lead. A roadside banner read 'Merckx is beaten — the Bastille has fallen.' Thévenet went on to win the Tour.

Elsewhere in the Alps

No Grand Tour day on record has taken this road and another of the atlas's famous climbs. These are its nearest neighbours.