The beauty of cycling as a professional sport is that its greatest arena is the open road.
The climbs of the Tour de France are cycling’s equivalent of Wembley Stadium or the Maracana – strips of tarmac transformed for one day a year but otherwise open to any rider willing to pit themselves against the same challenges as those faced by the world’s best cyclists.
The 2014 Tour de France includes six mountain stages (through three ranges: the Vosges, Alps and Pyrenees), with five summit finishes on a route which covers 3,664km.
We’ve selected six climbs from this year’s edition of cycling’s greatest race for you to add to your must-ride list. Have you ridden any? Share your story on the RoadCyclingUK forum.
