Isère · France
Alpe d'Huez
D211Le Bourg-d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez
Twenty-one hairpins of Tour de France legend above Bourg-d’Oisans.
The D211 out of Le Bourg-d’Oisans stacks twenty-one numbered hairpins up a 13.8 km climb at an average of 8.1 per cent, every bend signed with the names of Tour de France stage winners. Bend 7, Dutch Corner by the Saint-Ferréol chapel, becomes a wall of orange on race days; the rest of the year the road is a wide, smooth, relentless ladder to the ski town at 1,860 m. Around a thousand cyclists a day ride it in summer, winter tyres are the law from November to March, and event days close it to cars a dozen or so times a year.
The most famous hairpins in cycling, and a superb drive in their own right: wide, smooth, relentless. Go at dawn, before the bikes own it.
Why we picked it
Scenery
Best seasons
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Alpe d’Huez on the map9.0 mi · point to point
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Character
Corners
busiest around mile 9Elevation
under 4%4–8%over 8%721.3 – 1,860 mFrom the road
Points of interest2 stops
- Virage 7, Dutch CornerLandmark5.1 mi in
- Alpe d’Huez villageLandmark8.7 mi in
Hazards
- Around a thousand cyclists a day in summer
- Winter tyres or chains required November to March
- Race and event days close the road to cars
- Coaches swing wide on the hairpins in ski season
See the typical season and live conditions for the high passes ›
Sources
“Wide roads, great views, and at the top the Alpe d'Huez ski resort.”
“13.8 km (8.6 mi), with an average gradient of 8.1%, with 21 hairpin bends”
Verified route: mapped from real road geometry and fact-checked by a human editor. How roads get checked
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