The iconic hairpins of Alpe d’Huez may not feature on this year’s route but a brutal two days in the Alps still awaits for the men fighting for the yellow jersey.
Stages 13 and 14 could cause huge fractures overall with two brutal summit finishes, in Chamrousse and Risoul, while the hors categorie Col d’Izoard and category-one ascents of the Lautaret and Palaquit also feature.
The latter stage in particular is set to be a gruelling affair, with a 34-kilometre slog up the Col du Lautaret, with average gradients of 3.9 per cent, and 19 kilometres at six per cent on the Col d’Izoard, which rises to 2,360m, both before the final summit finish.
Rising for 12.6 kilometres, with the average gradient just shy of seven per cent, the ascent into Risoul, with the two climbs tackled beforehand, will be a brutal affair.
Popular segments on the route include the partial climb of the Col d’Izoard, starting at Briancon, which tackles 16.2 kilometres of the ascent and finishes at 2,061m.
The final climb also features, in full, as a popular segment, peaking out at 1,789m after tackling the sweeping hairpins into Risoul, with gradient rarely dropping below the seven per cent average.
It is not just the ascents to tackle either, with the rapid descent from the Col d’Izoard to tackle for anybody fearless enough to take on the technical drop into Brunissard.
