Attention was first drawn to the area in 1910 when the Tour de France passed through four cols on the Perpignan to Luchon stage. Since then, the Tour has been through the Ariège a total of 63 times. Foix is rumoured as a finish for 2008.
In the 1926 "Tour of Suffering", the field set off at midnight on a route for Perpignan including the cols des Ares, Portet d'Aspet, Puymorens, Rigat and la Perche. 18 hours riding, carrying all their own spares. Men were men in those days.
The geology of the Pyrenees tends to steepness. Even more so than the Alps. The col de Péguère: 3.5km of 20% proved such a challenge that in 1973 the course was changed when the field baulked at this prospect.