After today's tough stage in 32 degrees heat, the riders will have been wary of tomorrow; the stage from Bourg Saint Maurice to Serre Chevalier is very much the Queen stage of the Haute Route. The 169km parcours includes two hors categorie climbs in the Col de la Madeleine (1993 metres) and the Col du Galibier (2645 metres).
Surely they've got some serious downhill to come - every stage to date seems to have been a net climb, and they finish at sea level...
ReplyDeleteIndeed. The overall route tracks from Geneva (altitude 385m) to Nice (sea level) with 16,850m ascent, 14,750m descent for an overall 2,100m gain? The first 5 stages have net ascents (+3,250m), St6 is neutral and only St 7 has a net descent (-1,150m). Correct the maths don't seem to work... and that is because the organisers must have decided that almost 700k through the mountains wasn't enough and added some extra climbs... "Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!" [Additional 'unnecessary' climbs are to Les Arcs, Coll du Granon & Auron]
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