Stage eleven: Wednesday July 11, Albertville-La Toussuire-Les Sybelles, 148km
A stage with two hors categorie climbs, one category two ascent, and a summit finish on a first category climb is always going to be significant.
One that includes the Col de la Madeleine, the Col du Glandon, the Col de la Croix de Fer, will set joy in the hearts of the climbing specialists, misery in those of the sprinters, and dread among the select band of GC contenders who will see the potential for disaster etched into the hairpins and ramps of these Alpine giants.
Just 40km after leaving the cyclist’s mecca of Albertville, the riders will find themselves at the 2,000m summit of the Col de la Madeleine, an inexorable rise at an average gradient of 6.2 per cent that takes the riders from 400m to 2,000m in just over 25 kilometres.
A little over 50km down the road, the riders will begin the ascent of the Col de la Croix de Fer, another hors categorie monster that rises from 505m to 2,067m in 22.4km, climbing at an average gradient of 6.9 per cent.
A short, twisting descent from the summit of the Croix de Fer leads to the short ascent of the Col du Mollard, begun at 1,245m and crested 5.7km later at 1,638m.
The riders then plunge more than 1,000 metres in just 16 kilometres to begin the final climb of the day, La Toussuire, in the town of Saint Jean de Maurienne; an ascent that will see them climb more than 1,000m in 18km at an average gradient of 6.1 per cent.
Who is capable of winning such a stage? Pierre Roland would love to record a victory to match his triumph on Alpe d’Huez in last year’s Tour. Movistar’s roster could also provide a winner: 2011 Vuelta a Espana winner, Juan Jose Cobo, perhaps.
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