Jenkin Road, stage two
Jenkin Road may be far from the longest climb in the 2014 Tour de France, nor is it the most iconic or even likely to have any effect on the final podium – but it is the steepest.
The climb came just five kilometres from the end of stage two and saw the three pre-race favourites, Chris Froome (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) briefly spar on its 33 per cent gradient before Nibali took off on the descent and attacked on the run-in to the finish to claim the stage win and, with it, the maillot jaune.
Jenkin Road is a nondescript residential street on the outskirts of Sheffield on any other day but on Sunday July 6 it was at the centre of the cycling world, with the 800m climb, which averages 10.8 per cent, lined with fans ten deep, clambering on the railings which line the pavement on its steepest section.
The world’s finest cyclists winced as they hauled themselves over the final climb of a grueling day. To get the full effect you should ride Jenkin Road after tackling each of the previous eight categorised climbs on the stage two route – and, as a result, with 196km in the legs.
Stage: two
Category: four
Length: 800m
Average gradient: 10.8 per cent
Maximum gradient: 33 per cent
