Col du Tourmalet (pronounced [tuʁmalɛ]; elevation 2,115 m (6,939 ft)) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées.

Finally, the highest paved mountain pass in the Pyrenees is the Port d'Envalira in Andorra with its altitude of 2,407 m (7,897 ft).

The western side,[7] from Luz-Saint-Sauveur, is 19.0 km (11.8 mi) long, climbing 1,404 m (4,606 ft) at an average of 7.4% with a maximum of 10.2% near the summit.

[8] Starting from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, the eastern climb is 17.2 km (10.7 mi), gaining 1,268 m (4,160 ft), at an average of 7.4% with a maximum of 12%.

[10] From the pass, a rough track leads to the Pic du Midi de Bigorre observatory.

At the col is a memorial to Jacques Goddet, director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1987, and a large statue of Octave Lapize gasping for air as he struggles to make the climb.

The Souvenir Jacques Goddet prize is awarded for the first rider to cross the Col du Tourmalet summit.

In 2023, the climb was featured in the Tour de France Femmes for the first time, as the queen stage of the race.

[12] The Pyrenees were included in the Tour de France at the insistence of Alphonse Steinès, a colleague of the organiser, Henri Desgrange.

[13] Steinès first agreed that the Tour would pay 2,000 francs to clear the Col d'Aubisque, then came back to investigate the Tourmalet.

He started at Sainte-Marie-de-Campan with sausage, ham and cheese at the inn opposite the church and arranged to hire a driver called Dupont from Bagnères-de-Bigorre.

The Col du Tourmalet featured in the premiere event of Tour de France Femmes in 2023 as the finish of stage 7 on July 29.

The Col du Tourmalet features in other bicycle races, including the Vuelta a España when it has made excursions into France.

Thousands of amateur riders make the climb every year and many take documents to have rubber-stamped in the shop at the summit to show they have made it.