France · Alps
Col de la Madeleine
A long, sustained climb in the Maurienne valley. The north side from La Chambre is one of the great Tour de France HC climbs.
- Length
- 19.2 km
- Avg gradient
- 8.0%
- Max gradient
- 12%
- Elevation gain
- 1,530 m
- Summit
- 1,993 m
- Hairpins
- 16
Versants
- From La Chambre — 19.2 km at 8.0% (max 12%)
- From Feissons-sur-Isère — 28.3 km at 5.4% (max 10%)
History
The road over the Madeleine was only fully asphalted in 1969, specifically to bring the Tour de France over it for the first time that year — a late addition to the roster of great Alpine passes compared to neighbours like the Galibier or Iseran, but one that caught up fast. It has featured in the Tour 28 times since, and has been rated hors catégorie, the race's hardest classification, in every appearance since 1995.
The southern approach from La Chambre is the one riders and the Tour favour: 19 km at an average of 8%, gaining over 1,500 m with ramps touching 13.5%. The longer northern side, from Feissons-sur-Isère through La Léchère, spreads a similar altitude gain over 24.5 km at a gentler 6.3% average.
It connects two of the Alps' great valleys, the Maurienne and the Tarentaise, and though it lacks a single defining legend the way Alpe d'Huez or the Tourmalet do, its sheer consistency — nearly three decades as an HC-rated Tour staple — has made it one of the climbs the modern Tour returns to whenever a stage needs real altitude before the finish.