Col Agnel

Col Agnel

Col Agnel, or Colle dell’Agnello, is a high mountain pass in the Cottian Alps, forming a physical border between France to the west and Italy to the east. It connects the Queyras valley in the Hautes-Alpes department with the Varaita valley in the province of Cuneo. The pass is situated south of Monte Viso and north of the Ubaye Valley. Historically, the pass served as a high-altitude trade and migratory route between the French and Italian territories. Despite its significant elevation, the modern paved road was not completed until the early 1970s, which transformed it from a remote mule track into one of the highest trans-alpine crossings in Europe.

As one of the highest paved passes in the Alps, the route has featured in the Giro d’Italia four times—1994, 2000, 2007, and 2016—serving as the Cima Coppi in three of those editions. In the 1994 debut, Stefano Zanini claimed the summit in a solo breakaway, establishing the pass’s reputation for tactical volatility. However, the 2016 ascent proved the most consequential for professional cycling history; on the high-speed descent toward Italy, Steven Kruijswijk, while wearing the Maglia Rosa, crashed into a snowbank. The incident resulted in a fractured rib and the eventual loss of the general classification lead to Vincenzo Nibali. The pass is also a recurring feature in the Tour de France, notably used in 2011 to facilitate a high-altitude finish at the nearby Col du Galibier. Professional teams frequently utilize the pass for altitude testing, as the rarefied air at the summit serves as a rigorous metric for physiological performance during grand tours.