The great passes of the Tour de France

At 2,645 metres, Le Galibier is the highest pass in the Tour de France. Cyclists have climbed it more than 60 times in the history of this cycling race. The mountain pass is the link between two worlds: on one side lie the Hautes-Alpes department and southern France, on the other side are Savoy and the northern Alps. The Galibier Pass has witnessed Contador's stage win, the triumphs of Coppi, Bahamontes and Gaul and Pantani's breakthrough. And it was here that Andy Schleck spectacularly broke away from the peloton in 2011. (Text: arte)

The Alpe d'Huez looks like a wall. After the 14-kilometer climb, the racers reach the summit. The road winds up the mountain in 21 hairpin bends until it reaches the heart of the ski resort at an altitude of 1,860 meters. The hairpin bends are numbered: from hairpin bend 21 at the bottom to number one just before the finish line. Hundreds of thousands of spectators line this spectacular route. Above all, many Dutch people come here to celebrate the victories of their compatriots. The heroes of this stage are Pierre Rolland, Fausto Coppi, Jean Robic, Bernard Thévenet, Marco Pantani. But the cheating of the Belgian rider Pollentier and the head-to-head race between Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond will also be forever associated with this climb. (Text: arte)

In the shadow of the Pic du Midi lies the 2,144-meter-high Pyrenean pass Col du Tourmalet, exactly between Tarbes and the Spanish border. In 1910, it was the first major climb of the Tour de France and showed spectators how difficult it is to conquer a mountain on a bicycle. Its conquerors include Octave Lapize and especially Eugène Christophe, who had to repair his broken bicycle fork himself in a blacksmith's shop. But Louison Bobet, Eddy Merckx, Greg LeMond, Miguel Indurain, Richard Virenque, Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador also shaped the history of this mountain pass in the years that followed. (Text: arte)

Among the difficult mountains and passes of the Tour de France, Mont Ventoux in the Provençal Alps occupies a special position. With its bare summit, which is exposed to strong winds and blazing sun, it can mean the end of the race for careless riders. Two-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx exerted himself so much on the climb that he suffered a fainting spell. The climb even cost Tom Simpson his life. But the "holy mountain" not only means martyrdom, but sometimes also resurrection: it offered Richard Virenque and Marco Pantani the opportunity to join the ranks of the best. Mont Ventoux combines heaven and hell in one. (Text: arte)

On the road to Puy-de-Dôme, one half of which is taken up by the route of a cog railway, the riders Anquetil and Poulidor wrote cycling history in 1964 with their legendary duel. The volcanic mountain in the Massif Central has often been the scene of spectacular events: for Eddy Merckx, who was beaten here by a spectator in 1975, it marked the end of his career, and for young riders Bernard Thévenet, Laurent Fignon and Bernard Hinault it marked their breakthrough. For 25 years, the riders of the Tour de France have not climbed the famous climb with its gradient of 13 percent. But has the volcano really gone extinct for the "Tour" forever? (Text: arte)