[2] He was passionate about taking the Tour up to the highest reachable points of elevation in the Alps and Pyrenees using the most difficult routes.
[4] The race first reached high altitude[a] on the ninth edition in 1910 when it passed the 2,115-metre-high (6,939 ft) Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees.
I will not shirk from my duty in proclaiming that compared to the Galibier you are no more than pale and vulgar babies; faced with this giant we can do no more than tip our hats and bow!
[6][11] Various Alpine passes, including the Galibier, were the highest points reached in Tours until the 1962 race saw a new high of 2,860 m (9,383 ft) at the Cime de la Bonette in the Alps, a short loop road which forks from the summit of the Col de la Bonette.
Since 1962, all the highest points of Tours bar one have remained above 2,000 m (6,562 ft), using passes in the high Alps and Pyrenees.