A07 Orthez - Pamplona

Seventh ride from Oekene (Roeselare) to Santiago de Compostela: from Orthez to Pamplona, 141 kilometers and 1386 meters of elevation.

End of France and beginning of Spain! Today you cross the Pyrenees with one gentle mountain pass. First, you get some undulating roads until you ride over ‘le Gave d’Oloron’ in Sauveterre de Béarn after 25 km. Then it's about 40 km flat to rolling, and from Saint-Jean-du-Pied-du-Port (km 70) you gradually climb to the highest point of the day. Saint-Jean-du-Pied-du-Port is known to many Compostela pilgrims as the crossing of the Pyrenees.

You follow the valley of the ‘Petite Nive’ from the village of Arnéguy. At the border area with Spain, it starts to climb again, in Spain we follow the ‘rio Luzanne’. You climb from 60 meters above sea level to a height of 1074 meters. Spread over about 25 km, the average gradient is 4%. The first 10 km are the least steep, the last 10 are slightly steeper. Runners would call this a jogger's route.

Just before Roncevalles, near the ‘Pto Ibañeta’, we reach our highest point. Afterwards, it's undulating roads at an altitude of 800 to 1000 meters, with the ‘Pto de Aurizberri’ and the ‘Pto Erro’ sequentially. The last 20 km are slightly downhill along the ‘Rio Arga’ to Pamplona.

Pamplona (Iruñea in Basque) is the capital of the Spanish region Navarra. The city is located on the river ‘Arga’ and has around 194,000 inhabitants. Navarra is one of the seven provinces of Baskenland, 4 in Spain and 3 in France.
The city is especially known for its annual bull runs during the San Fermín festivities, in honor of San Firmín, who is the co-patron saint of the city. These festivities take place between July 6 and 14.