Col de Mente – 1,349m

Location: D44/D85/D618 Saint-Beat to Saint-Lary (19 miles)

Coordinates: 42.9193507,0.7617243

Ridden: 2007 & 2011

This col sits on the D44 a few miles to the east of Saint-Beat, and before you get to the Col de Portet d’Aspet on the D618. Not a pass to go out of your way for but nevertheless really nice to ride. The traffic is very light and if you like hairpins this is a great road to get your knee down.

There’s a memorial to Tour de France rider Luis Ocana on the eastern side of this col marking the place where he crashed out of the 1971 race. He was wearing the leaders yellow jersey at the time and the following day Eddy Merckx, who inherited the jersey, famously refused to wear it in tribute to Ocana.

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Routes & Posts:

Urdos to Saint-Lary and a ride out to Andorra
Port de Bales and lunch in Saint-Lary