Luz Ardiden
| Luz Ardiden | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Luz-Saint-Sauveur, Hautes-Pyrénées, Midi-Pyrénées, France |
| Coordinates | 42°53′8″N 0°3′41″W / 42.88556°N 0.06139°W |
| Top elevation | 2500 |
| Base elevation | 1680 |
| Runs | 26 |
| Lift system | 15 |
| Website | http://www.luz.org/ |
Luz Ardiden is a ski resort in the Pyrenees. It is situated in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in the Midi-Pyrénées. The ski resort lies at a height of 1720 meters and was opened on January 16, 1975. In recent years the road to Luz Ardiden has served as an occasional stage finish for the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
Starting from Luz-Saint-Sauveur (710 m), the climb to Luz Ardiden (1720 m) is 14.7 km long. The elevation gain over this distance is 1010 m (an average of 6.9%). The maximum gradient is 10%.
Luz Ardiden has been the finish-line for Tour de France and Vuelta a España stages several times.
On the 2003 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong was riding with Iban Mayo at the start of the climb to Luz Ardiden when Armstrong crashed, bringing Mayo down with him. The fall was caused when Armstrong caught the handlebar of his bike on the strap of a spectator's bag. Jan Ulrich, who was riding just behind Armstrong and Mayo, avoided the crash, and in an act of chivalry he slowed to wait for the fallen riders. Armstrong quickly re-mounted his bike and caught Jan Ulrich. Immediately, Armstrong attacked the group of riders, none of whom could follow him and he powered his way to win the stage by 40 seconds, on his way to a victory on the Champs Elysees by 1 minute 1 second.
Coordinates: 42°53′8″N 0°3′41″W / 42.88556°N 0.06139°W
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