Col d'Aubisque

First used in the Tour de France in 1910, this legendary Pyrenean climb has featured in the race over 70 times

- Giles Belbin

Pick up a book about the Tour de France and there is a decent chance that somewhere in there will be a photograph of the peloton gingerly navigating its way over a narrow strip of tarmac in the Pyrenees, hacked from a face of soaring limestone while below lies nothing but a precipitous fall into oblivion.

This is the 2km Corniche du Cirque du Litor, a stunning piece of road that threads its way across a natural theatre of cliff and mountain pasture. Some 7km up the road sits the Col d’Aubisque, a pass that has been featured more than 70 times in the Tour de France since it was first used in 1910.

The Circle of Death