Port de Larrau (North side)
Distance: 26.56 km
Elevation Gain: 1354 m
Elevation Loss: 41 m
Difficulty:
1300 (Very Hard)
FIETS Index: 6.50 FIETS
Avg Grade: 4.95 %
Max cat climb: HC
Min elevation: 241 m
Max elevation: 1554 m
Ride Category:
Epic Climb
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The Port de Larrau crosses the Pyrenees below the Pic d’Orhy, between Navarre and the Soule, the smallest of the seven Basque provinces, which lies in France. Its French side is the hard way up, and it is the side the big races have climbed. In 1996 the Tour de France crossed it on the stage to Pamplona, Miguel Indurain’s home city: Richard Virenque led over the top, and the Festina team’s attack ended Indurain’s hopes. The Tour came back in 2007, with Larrau as the first climb of the stage to the Aubisque. In 2023 Remco Evenepoel and Romain Bardet climbed it together on the Vuelta a España’s stage to Larra-Belagua, which Evenepoel won.
The ride starts near Licq and climbs the Saison valley to the Logibar inn, where the steep part begins and walkers leave for the Holzarte footbridge, built in 1920 for the loggers. It passes Larrau, whose church of St John the Baptist dates in part from the 12th century and was first the chapel of a priory-hospital on the pilgrim route over the pass. The ride then climbs by the Col d’Erroymendi to the border at the top.
