Col du Banchet

Overview

Col du Banchet sits in France and earns its Category 2 rating honestly. The climb covers 5.7 km from start to summit, rising 498 m of total ascent from a base elevation of 243 m. An average gradient of 6.33% sounds manageable until the maximum gradient of 31.97% enters the equation — one of the steeper single-ramp figures you will encounter on a categorised road climb.

How the Climb Rides

At 5.7 km, Banchet is not a long attrition test, but the 31.97% maximum ramp means the gradient distribution is far from uniform. Expect a significant portion of the climb to sit well below the average — perhaps genuinely moderate pitches — before the road kicks into something that borders on the extreme. A near-32% ramp is the kind of gradient where forward momentum can stall completely if you arrive at it in too large a gear or already deep in your lactate reserves.

The 498 m of total ascent packed into 5.7 km confirms that most of the vertical is concentrated: this is not a climb where the road meanders and wastes distance on flat false summits. The elevation gain is real and continuous.

Pacing Notes

• Start conservatively. The average gradient of 6.33% tempts a strong early pace, but doing so before you know where the 31.97% ramp falls is a significant risk. Keep your effort below threshold on the lower slopes.
• Know your FTP. On a Category 2 climb with this gradient variance, riding to perceived effort rather than power is a recipe for blowing up on the steep section. Use your FTP as an anchor — if you haven't established yours recently, the FTP estimator is worth running before attempting this climb at race pace.
• Gear selection is critical. A 31.97% gradient is not a gradient you can muscle through on a standard compact chainring without the right cassette. If you are running a 34-tooth inner ring, pair it with at minimum a 32-tooth sprocket on the rear — ideally 34t or more. Riders on a standard 50/34 compact with a tight 11-28 cassette will be walking or grinding to a halt on that ramp.
• Cadence discipline. On the moderate sections, hold a cadence you can sustain — somewhere in the 75–90 rpm range for most riders. Drop to a lower gear earlier than you think you need to before hitting the steep ramp, so you are not forced into a mid-pitch gear change at zero momentum.

Summit

The summit sits at 601 m. The total elevation gain of 498 m over 5.7 km gives a feel similar to other punchy French Category 2 climbs — not an alpine epic, but a climb that will separate riders who pace it well from those who do not. If you are using this as a training climb rather than a race target, it functions well as a threshold effort on the lower slopes with a VO2max burst saved for the steep ramp.