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Luz Ardiden: the climb, its Grand Tour history and records
Luz Ardiden: each side of the climb, every Grand Tour passage since 1996 and the records, each figure with the source it comes from.
The climb
Occitanie (Hautes-Pyrénées), France
| Side | Start | Length | Elevation gain | Average | Max | Summit | Hairpins | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luz-Saint-Sauveur | Luz-Saint-Sauveur | 13.2 km | 999 m | 7.6 % | 11 % | 1708 m | 29 | climbfinder.com |
Each side from one source, linked. A dash: the sources we opened disagree or give no figure, so we leave it out.
In the Grand Tours since 1996 4
| Year | Race | Stage | Type | Stage winner or first over the top | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Tour de France | 18 | Summit finish | Tadej Pogačar | en.wikipedia.org |
| 2011 | Tour de France | 12 | Summit finish | Samuel Sánchez | en.wikipedia.org |
| 2003 | Tour de France | 15 | Summit finish | Lance Armstrong (result vacated) | en.wikipedia.org |
| 2001 | Tour de France | 14 | Summit finish | Roberto Laiseka | en.wikipedia.org |
How long would it take you?
Your time up Luz Ardiden at a steady power, from a physics model.
Advanced: rolling resistance and drag
Estimate from a physics model (Martin et al. 1998), on the average gradient. Wind, surface, pacing and steep sections change the real time. More cycling tools
How this is calculated
P × 0.977 = ½ · ρ · CdA · v³ + v · m · g · (sin θ + Crr · cos θ), θ = arctan(average gradient), m = rider + bike, g = 9.81; solved for the speed v, time = length / v. Air density ρ: NASA GRC troposphere: T=15.04-0.00649*h; p=101.29*((T+273.1)/288.08)^5.256; rho=p/(0.2869*(T+273.1)); h = mean of start and summit altitude. Sources: Martin et al. 1998, J Appl Biomech 14(3):276-291 — https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6jd5f71; Defraeye et al. 2010, J Biomech 43(7):1262-1268 (upright position, cyclist+bike 0.270 m2) — https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/232736; NASA Glenn Research Center, Earth Atmosphere Model (metric) — https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/atmosmet.html. Climb geometry: the side's source in the table above.
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