| Beautiful scenery |
| 6 hairpin turns |
| #36 toughest climb of Massif Central |
| #49 most elevation gain of Massif Central |
Col de Fontfroide from Olargues is a climb in the region Occitania. It is 11.8km long and bridges 778 vertical meters with an average gradient of 6.6%, resulting in a difficulty score of 539. The top of the ascent is located at 973 meters above sea level. Climbfinder users shared 1 review/story of this climb and uploaded 4 photos.
Road name: D14
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On paper, the Col de Fontfroide presents no major difficulties. The road is well maintained, the gradients are never very steep and the scenery is magnificent. The problem is the wind! It's very prevalent in the region and I had a real hard time climbing here. With 3 km to go, there's a hairpin where you can catch your breath in a short section with the wind at your back, before the dreaded final stretch where the wind is once again against you. Don't forget this parameter, which makes the climb much harder than it looks.
Sur le papier, le col de Fontfroide ne présente pas de difficulté majeure. La route est bien entretenue, les pentes ne sont jamais très raides et les paysages traversés sont magnifiques. Le problème, c'est le vent ! Très présent dans la région, j'ai connu une vraie galère en grimpant ici. À 3 km de l'arrivée, une épingle vous permet d'avoir une petite portion avec le vent de dos pour reprendre votre souffle, avant le terrible final qui vous offre à nouveau le vent de face. N'oubliez pas ce paramètre qui rend l'ascension bien plus dure qu'elle n'en a l'air.
| 7 km/h | 01:41:08 |
| 11 km/h | 01:04:21 |
| 15 km/h | 00:47:12 |
| 19 km/h | 00:37:15 |
