Sabotage
In a 1937 Tour riddled with cheating, the race headed to the Pyrenees and the first mountain pass, Col de Peyresourde. French team leader, Roger Lapébie headed out of Luchon with his team-mates for a morning warm-up. At Cierp-Gaud, 15 kilometres out of town, Lapébie plunged inexplicably off the road. Or not so inexplicably: closer examination revealed that Lapébie’s handlebar stem had been sabotaged, presumably by the Belgians who had been squabbling with the French riders throughout the race. Lapébie survived the crash, but when the stage finally rolled out of Luchon, the Frenchman was dropped almost immediately climbing Peyresourde: he trailed his Belgian nemesis Sylvère Maes by over four minutes when they reached the Tourmalet. Lapébie recovered, however, and won that year’s edition of the Grand Boucle.
It’s place at the Tour de France
Col de Peyresourde has been a favourite at the Tour de France, featuring some sixty times since it was first included in 1910 (along with the Aubisque and the Tourmalet). The Peyresourde is normally used as a mere amuse-bouche, though, and often in stages heading to or from the spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon .