Col du Galibier

To describe the Galibier as the oldest Alpine climb feels a little misleading. After all, the paths over the Alps existed long before the Tour de France arrived, and who knows which of them appeared first? However, in terms of the history of the Tour, the Galibier is the most senior of all the Alpine climbs and it has a grandeur befitting this status.

It first appeared on the roster in 1911, just a year after the Tourmalet had first ushered high mountains into the race. As you may remember, those forced to do battle with the Pyrenees in 1910 accused the race’s mastermind, Henri Desgrange, of being ‘murderers’, but this clearly didn’t deter him. As an introduction to the Alps, climbing the Galibier is about as intimidating