Stage 19 can best be described as bottom heavy, with three brutal climbs packed into the final 80 kilometres of the arduous 236km course.

Saint-Barthelemy, the Col Saint-Pantaleon and Cervinia provide a trio of epic tests, with the stage finishing some 2001m above sea level.

The former begins to kick up at the 150km mark, with the rolling mountainside covering 20 kilometres in total.

A series of false flats and even a short descent mask the brutal nature of the climb, where short, sharp, fierce slopes offer plenty of chance to attack your rivals.

The hairpins of the Col du Saint-Pantaleon, meanwhile, will further trim the group of contenders, with the sweeping turns leading into ramps of up to 12 per cent gradient.

And the stage then finishes in Cervinia, after a 19.2km ascent to the peak. The climb’s difficulty comes more in its length than in how steep it is, but with sections touching double digits there will be ample opportunity to put some distance into whatever remains of the pack.