Only the climb from Aigle (417m) is starting very low and is thus a terrific climb up here, but broken up with a long flattish stretch between Le Sépey and Les Diablerets. It is never terribly steep anywhere on this climb though and the road is quite a popular one as Col du Pillon is a very practical passage in the area.

This pass is competing with the slightly more popular Col des Mosses (1445m). If you come down from the Mosses, you can climb either via Le Sépey (1077m), but it is more clever to use the short-cut via Les Voëttes. If you come from Martigny and have climbed the Col de la Croix (1776m), you start in Les Diablerets (1162m) and get not many flat metres before this climb starts.

From the east you will start the climb in Saanen or rather Gstaad (1045m) from where a very flat road leads to Gsteig (1184m) from where the real climb start, but it is quite short and easy from there. It is more or less uphill all the way from down around Gruyères (709m), but too long flats makes it uninteresting to count as a climb.

If the weather is fine and you are interested in climbing an unusual pass above 2000m (of which there are not so many that could be reached with a road bike), then I could recommend that you give the Col des Andérets (2031m) a try. It starts just before the Pillon pass from the west and is asphalted for most of the way up. There is then gravel (R1) ca. 400-600m here and there with some asphalt until the pass. Typically the steepest stretches has some asphalt. It is a bit unusual in having asphalt instead of concrete patches up similar roads elsewhere. If you are lucky they may have asphalted it even more since my visit in 2011. There is actually asphalt a bit down the east side too, but the road does not go far down there. It is quite nice up at this pass and you can also stop and eat something on the alp restaurant(s) up here on the way down.

See also: Hinter/Hinders Eggli (Eggli) (1590m/1660m).