- Ascent
- 1247 hm
- Distance Ascent
- 16 km
- max. gradient
- 10 %
- ø gradient
- 7.8 %
The Plateau de Beille from Les Cabannes is an HC climb of 16 km with 1,247 m of elevation gain at an average of 7.8 %, peaking at 10 %. The road climbs out of the Ariège valley up to the plateau at 1,780 m, and the way back is the same road. No Pyrenees climb in our list is steeper on average.
The Plateau de Beille climbs from the Ariège valley up to a high plateau at 1,780 metres. From Les Cabannes it is 16 kilometres and 1,247 metres of climbing. At 7.8 % on average no Pyrenees climb in our list is steeper. And the peak of 10 % is not far above that: the climb is hard, but even.
The Plateau de Beille at a glance
The key figures from Les Cabannes: category HC, 16 km, 1,247 m of climbing, 7.8 % on average and 10 % at its steepest. The road leaves Les Cabannes in the Ariège valley and climbs up to the plateau at 1,780 m. Start and finish are both in Les Cabannes, so the way back is the same road. In our list the Plateau de Beille belongs to the Pyrenees region.
The climb from Les Cabannes
Right from the first kilometre the gradient sits at over 7 %, and the second kilometre is already at the 10 % mark. From there the climb follows a clear pattern: steeper kilometres near 10 % alternate with slightly easier ones around 6 to 7 %. There is not a single real breather. The rhythm changes, the effort does not.
The upper half is a little more even, with values between 6.5 and just under 9 %. Several kilometres near the 10 % mark come in the middle of the climb. Only the very last kilometre up to the plateau is clearly gentler. So the finish is a short roll, not a final wall.
How it compares to our 100 climbs
At 7.8 % the Plateau de Beille has the steepest average of all 14 Pyrenees climbs in our list, and across all 100 only 23 are steeper. In the whole list only two climbs have their average and peak closer together. With 1,247 m of climbing it sits in the middle, 42 climbs have more. The Port de Pailhères, also in the Ariège, is very similar with 7.7 % on average and a 10.2 % peak.
Practical tips
The Plateau de Beille needs no extreme gearing, 10 % at most is fine on a compact chainset. More important is a pace you can hold for 16 kilometres without any real break. At 1,780 m it is cooler than in the valley, so bring a jacket for the descent. The way back to Les Cabannes is the same road.
