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Luz Ardiden

France

A battle ground for the Tour de France and a climb so pretty it hurts. Luz Ardiden is a must-do climb in the French Pyrenees.

Classified as Hors Category (without category), this climb starts from Luz-Saint-Sauveur. To reach the summit, it's 1005 vertical metres in 13 kilometres with an average of 7% gradient.

From the start, the views are glorious.

The climb as a whole feels manageable and only at times does it go over 10%.

The final switchback – is like reaching for the skies.

A noteworthy mention about this climb is that it is quiet. No cars!

The road only leads to ski-lifts. And with that said, the only disappointment in the finish is that it lacks a coffee shop. No freshly extracted espresso shots here!