The 2013 Etape du Tour will take place on Sunday July 7 over stage 20 of the Tour de France, ending with a summit finish on the steep climb of Le Semnoz above Lake Annecy.
The 130km stage is the last of three successive stages in the Alps. The Tour de France stage proper will take place on Saturday July 20, when the combination of the short distance and summit finish should make for an explosive final day of racing before the peloton transfers to Paris.
The stage starts in Annecy and riders will have just a handful of kilometres to warm-up before the first of three categorised climbs.
However, the Côte de Puget is a gentle opener, rising to 796m over 5.4km of road at an average gradient of 5.8 per cent.
A trio of uncategorised climbs – the Col de Leschaux, Côte de Aillons-le-Vieux and Col des Prés – will further sap the legs before the second categorised climb. The Col du Mont-Revard is a 16km ascent at an average gradient of 5.4 per cent.
The finale then takes place on the climb of the Semnoz above Lake Annecy. The super-steep ascent, which is featuring in the Tour de France for the first time, is 11km long at an average gradient of 8.3 per cent.
