The 2015 Etape du Tour will see sportive riders follow in the iconic wheel tracks of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome with a summit finish on La Toussuire.
The scene of Froome’s infamous attack on race leader and team-mate Wiggins, on the way to Wiggins’ 2012 Tour de France triumph, returns to the race next year – as confirmed by organisers in Paris this morning.
And Etape du Tour participants will get to tackle the route five days before the professionals do, with the ever-popular sportive to take place on Sunday July 19.
Covering 142 km, the sportive will be the 23rd running of the Etape du Tour and will see more than 10,000 riders tackle a gruelling, undulating route from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
La Toussuire was also the scene of the Etape du Tour in 2012, prior to the aforementioned stage, and this year’s route will also tackle the Col du Chaussy, Col de la Croix de Fer, and Col du Mollard.
Climbing to more than 2,000 metres on the Croix de Fer, the brutal 22.4km ascent boasts an average gradient of just less than seven per cent.
The Col du Chaussy, meanwhile, which riders will start to climb as soon as the Etape begins, is 15.4km in length with an average gradient of 6.3 per cent.
Both the Col du Mollard and La Toussuire also boast average gradients of more than six per cent, with the final ascent covering 18 kilometres in total.
Registration for the Etape du Tour begin at the start of November. For more information visit letapedutour.com
