The problem with top five MTFs is you get ones like the Tourmalet, Stelvio and Galibier which have achieved their legendary status as passes, and to me I find it a bit incongruous to group them with the real one-way streets. But then Zoncolan is a pass as well, although it's never been used as one and even Zomegnan I'd have thought would see doing that as going a bit far (although you never know).
Then you have a climb like Calar Alto which is frequently used as both a pass and an MTF depending on which side they go.
On my own totally arbitrary basis of eligibility, my top five MTFs would be (in no particular order):
Sierra Nevada - Highest regularly used MTF in the grand tours. One day IRAM or the Veleta will come...
Angliru - Crazy hard, the one Spanish climb that easily hits the front pages (of sports papers and "mainstream" papers, too). The first climb I discovered that made me realise there was so much more than what I saw at the Tour.
Zoncolan - "Lo stadio naturale dello Zoncolan" 4:25 into
this video. I never get bored of seeing that.
Luz-Ardiden - Pretty much always comes off the back of the Tourmalet (and usually others beforehand) for a spectacular succession. It's not the toughest climb in and of itself, but tied to the Tourmalet it's always immense. The hairpins make Alpe d'Huez look like a cheap knock-off.
Ventoux - Unlike Alpe d'Huez, this is used fairly scarcely and that adds to the legend. It's a bit like how in my opinion the six-year gap between the third and fourth ascent of Angliru added to the myth that using it three times in four years previously demeaned a little.
If we're going top five climbs whether MTFs or not, then I'd say:
Madeleine - I've always preferred this to its neighbours. Two fantastically different but equally dramatic ascents (plus the as-yet unused Third Way). It's the Alpine workhorse, a leg-breaker which always seems to let the Galibier or the Alpe get all the attention. 2010 was a happy break with that tradition.
Larrau - A much more overlooked climb. Laughs in the face of the Tourmalet, involved in two of the toughest stages in recent Tour history.
Mortirolo - It's so annoying when everyone waits for the final climb on an MTF stage to attack. This loyal soldier makes sure that the damage is already done before the time they reach (invariably) Aprica.
San Lorenzo - Doesn't have the history that others do, but it has two gloriously nutty ascents and stands out as the Vuelta's principal non-MTF climb and is a significant block in building better Vuelta stages. Like the Madeleine and Larrau, usually overshadowed by a less impressive neighbour which just makes me love you all the more, baby.
Finestre - Few are the climbs that accrue the kind of adoration this has despite only being used once ever, until next year at least.
These aren't necessarily all my favourite climbs (some of them are) - I'd happily take the Fauniera or Mont du Chat over several of them - but they're the ones which I think deserve the most prestige afforded to them on a mixture of history, difficulty and style.
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