Col de Ferret

Col de Ferret cycling climb profile

The Col de Ferret is an HC climb in CH that asks for restraint more than aggression. On paper, 35.6 km at 5.21% can look manageable because the average gradient sits in the tempo-climb range for a well-trained rider. The catch is the scale. The road rises from 620 m to 2,478 m, with 1,858 m of net elevation gain, so the main tactical problem is not one steep ramp. It is the cost of accumulating elevation for a very long time.

That average also hides the important pacing detail. With a maximum gradient of 9.87%, the climb has steep enough moments to punish a rider who settles into a gear based only on the headline 5.21%. The right read is that the Col de Ferret is broadly steady by average gradient, but long enough and sharp enough at its hardest points that small over-threshold efforts can compound badly.

How the gradient unfolds

From the base at 620 m, the climb trends upward for 35.6 km to the summit at 2,478 m. The supplied profile gives a moderate average gradient, but the nearly 10% maximum tells you the road is not a flat metronome. Expect the effort to shift between sustainable climbing and more muscular sections where torque demand rises.

The key is to treat the lower part as setup, not as free speed. On a climb this long, the early kilometers are where the ride is usually lost rather than won. If the gradient feels comfortable, that is the moment to hold back, keep pressure smooth, and protect the legs for the higher, steeper portions implied by the max gradient.

Pacing and gearing notes

Pace the Col de Ferret as a long endurance climb with controlled surges, not as a threshold test from the bottom. Ride below your hard ceiling early, then let the effort build only once the summit is genuinely closer than the valley. If you use power, anchor the opening effort under your sustainable climbing output rather than chasing speed. A simple check is whether you could still respond calmly when the road approaches its steepest gradients. If not, the early pace is too high. See /glossary/ftp if you frame pacing around threshold.

Gearing should be chosen for the maximum gradient, not the average. A low enough climbing gear matters because the hardest ramps arrive inside a very long ascent, when fatigue has already raised the cost of each acceleration. If your setup forces grinding on gradients near 9.87%, it will push the effort above target and make the later climb feel disproportionately expensive.

The best approach is patient and boring in the right way: smooth cadence, steady fuelling, no unnecessary spikes, and a gear range that lets you keep climbing economically when the profile moves above its average.