La Hourquette d'Ancizan

La Hourquette d'Ancizan is a mountain pass in the French Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, between the communities of Ancizan and Campan .ToponymyThe word "Hourquette" is derived from the Gascon word "hurketɵ" meaning "farm". Or, according to French Wikipedia, the Gascon word comes from the Latin furca meaning a fork.Details of climbStarting from Ancizan, the climb is 10.3km long. Over this distance, the climb is 805m (an average of 7.8%). After Ancizan, the road goes up sharply, with stretches of 15% in the first kilometre, but after the first 3km, the climb becomes more moderate.Starting from Campan, the climb is 22.6km long. Over this distance, the climb is 904m (an average of 4.0%), with the steepest section being at 10.0%.On both sides of the climb mountain pass cycling milestones are placed every kilometre. They indicate the height of the summit, the distance to the summit, the current height, and the average slope in the following kilometre. Such signposting for cyclists has become common in most major mountain passes in the French Pyrenees and Alps.Appearances in Tour de FranceLa Hourquette d'Ancizan was first used in the Tour de France on stage 12 of the 2011 tour, when the leader over the summit was Laurent Mangel.