Yakou

Yakou cycling climb profile

Yakou is not a climb you solve with one hard acceleration or a short block of threshold work. The profile is brutally simple: 20.8 km, 2,869 m of net elevation gain, and an average gradient of 13.78%. That combination makes it an HC climb by category, but the more important point for the rider is how little space the numbers leave for recovery.

The start elevation is 778 m and the summit elevation is 3,647 m, so the road gains almost everything it can gain between bottom and top. Total ascent is 2,899 m, only 30 m more than the net elevation gain. That tells you the climb is effectively one long upward drag rather than a rolling ascent with repeated chances to reset the legs.

How the gradient unfolds

With no maximum gradient listed, the safest reading is not to hunt for one decisive ramp. The defining feature is the sustained average. A climb averaging 13.78% for 20.8 km does not need a named steep section to become selective. The selection comes from accumulation: every minute ridden too hard at the bottom becomes expensive later because there is so little natural relief to repay the debt.

The profile also implies that momentum will not carry you far. On a shallower climb, small rises and brief easings can let a rider change cadence, stand, sit, and recover without losing much speed. On Yakou, the high average gradient makes each of those changes costly. If your pacing is uneven, the climb will punish it by forcing repeated high-torque efforts just to stay moving.

Pacing and gearing notes

Treat the lower slopes as a control problem, not a test of freshness. The correct opening pace is one that feels almost too conservative, because the climb asks for sustained power over a long duration with no meaningful reset. If you ride by power, anchor the effort below /glossary/ftp early and let the climb come back to you rather than chasing speed on the steep average grade.

Gearing should be chosen for survival cadence, not pride. A low gear that feels unnecessary on normal climbs can become essential here because 13.78% over 20.8 km means torque demand stays high for a long time. If your easiest gear forces grinding from the start, it is too large for a clean pacing strategy.

The practical goal is to keep the effort smooth, keep cadence as stable as the slope allows, and avoid surges. Yakou rewards the rider who can make a hard climb boring: same pressure, same breathing, same restraint, repeated until the summit at 3,647 m.