Little St Bernard Pass


The Little St Bernard Pass is a mountain pass in the Alps on the France–Italy border. Its saddle is at 2188 metres above sea level. It is located between Savoie, France, and Aosta Valley, Italy, to the south of the Mont Blanc Massif, exactly on the main alpine watershed. There is also a Great St. Bernard Pass, famous for giving the St Bernard breed its name, and a San Bernardino Pass.
The road across this pass is usually open from May to October. For current road status see Etat des principaux cols routiers francais.
At the summit, the road cuts through a stone circle measuring 72 m in diameter. A standing stone once stood in the middle. From coin finds this is believed to date from the Iron Age, possibly being a ceremonial site of the Tarentaisian culture. The stone circle was partly restored in the 19th century.
In the Roman era, a temple dedicated to Jupiter was erected nearby along with a mansio serving travellers along the pass, and it is thought that Carthaginian general Hannibal used this route.

Tour de France

The Little St Bernard Pass was first crossed by the Tour de France in 1949 and has been featured three times since. In 2007, Montée d'Hauteville was climbed on stage 8 of the Tour de France. The pass was featured in the 2009 Tour de France Stage 16 on 21 July from Martigny to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, 160 km, which also features the Great St Bernard Pass.
YearStageCategoryLeader at the summit
2009161Franco Pellizotti
1963172Federico Bahamontes
1959181Michele Gismondi
1949172Gino Bartali

Route

From Bourg-Saint-Maurice to the south-west, the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard is 26.5 km long. Over this distance, the climb is 1,348 m , with the steepest sections at 8.1% at the start of the climb. The first 15.5 km to La Rosière forms the Montée d'Hauteville climb.
From Pré-Saint-Didier, the pass is 23.5 km long. Over this distance the climb is 1,184 m .