Spring Cycling In The Pyrenees - Col du Portillon from Bagneres du Luchon (1295m)

We cycled from Bagneres du Luchon up to the French-Spanish border at the Col du Portillon together way back in 2014. This time, however, Esther tackled the climb by herself while I went for a run. Compared to the Port de Bales, Peyresourde and Superbagneres, this is probably the easier of the four climbs directly accessible from Bagneres du Luchon, but only because it is quite a bit shorter.

From the village of Saint-Mamet, which is a flat ride from Bagneres, the summit is only 7.3km away, but with an apparent average gradient of 8.5% (according to climbbybike.com) it is still some tough riding. The route is tree-lined for much of the way and the col itself, being quite a bit lower than the surrounding hills, doesn’t provide the same sort of eye-watering panorama of some of the higher routes. It’s still a very pleasant ride though, with lots of waterfalls by the roadside to appreciate. Not sure how busy this border crossing gets in summer, but the road is good and wide. Definitely worth a visit and, if you wanted, there are even a few picnic benches at the col!