Col d'Izoard
The otherworldly, lunar landscape of the Col d’Izoard has ignited fierce debate since the roads construction in 1897. Some have called the Izoard beautiful, others diabolical. Jacques Goddet, Tour de France director from 1936 to 1986 dubbed the Izoard ‘a new version of Hell’.
One thing for certain is that the Col d’Izoard and its Casse Déserte vista is an iconic mountain and one to be ridden. At 2360m above sea-level the Col d’Izoard is not the highest mountain in the region nor the most visited but from its use at the cycling Grand Tours of the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia it has gained a notoriety in cycling folklore.
From either Guillestre to the south or Briançon in the north, the Casse Déserte and the Izoard are staging posts on a cyclist’s journey into a new dimension of torture.