Deceptively tough.... as the climb itself is never steep; rarely over 6% and with
a few long sections of gentle incline. It is long, however, and if you face a headwind
it can be a difficult climb.
The picture to the left was taken halfway up the climb, at a village called La Grave.
The mountain peak is the called ‘La Meije’, and at 3983m, is one of the highest
in the area. La Grave is a good place to stop when returning from the Col du Galibier
as it has a number of restaurants, cafes and bars (due to the ski-field on La Meije).
The Col du Lautaret is on the route from Grenoble to Briancon (with the ski resort
of Les Deux Alpes also along the way) and the road includes a number of tunnels.
The longest are two of 750m, and whilst they are lit, it is definitely necessary
to have rear lights. Even Alberto Contador is not exempt from this, as he was stopped
by the French police last year when doing a recon for the 2011 Tour de France! (Although
who knows if it had more to do with the French opinion of Contador than anything
else........)
