After the almost
complete absence of
the Alpes in last year’s
Grand Boucle, the
Tour de France returns
in 2011 with a fervor
to Europe’s dominant
mountain range, and
the placement of the
Alpes as the final
stepping stone on a
long path to Paris
seems to ensure that
the showdown for the
maillot jaune will come
down to two crucial
days in the Alpes.
Of course, if things continue as they
have for the last few years, there
should be a big asterisk by that last
paragraph. If Alberto Contador
comes to the Tour de France with the
same Grand Tour dominating form
that has seen him to six Grand Tour
victories (three Tours, two Giros, one
Vuelta), the Tour will likely be decided
somewhere in the Pyrenees, with the
Alpes living on only as a stage for his
continued romp into the asterisk-laden
history books. We’ll hope that the likes
of the Schlecks, Sanchez, Van Den
Broeck, perhaps even Horner can push
Contador though. If anything, there
might be a maillot jaune waiting for
this year’s runner-up if the CAS swats
Contador into suspension.
d’Huez. peloton marched through
the four crucial climbs in order, was
dumbfounded by their difficulty and
beauty, and at the end, only one real
question remains: can anyone touch
Alberto Contador outside of the Court
of Arbitration for Sport?
and capped off by the first-ever
mountaintop finish on the Galibier,
which will also take over the mantle as
the highest mountaintop finish in the
history of the Tour de France.
In a cycling utopia, the Tour will
come down to two days: stages 18 and
19. The first will go from Pinerolo to
the Galibier, over three tremendous
passes: the Col Agnel, the Col
d’Izoard, and the Col du Galibier.
The next stage, at almost half the
distance of the day before, will come
up the famous northern side of the
Galibier before heading straight for
the unquestioned showdown on Alpe
Col Agnel
Like any first climb of any big
mountain stage, I assumed the worst.
It’s the first of three monster climbs,
how important could it possibly be?
How about the meanest of the three?
The stage is set for pristine carnage
with the Agnel, followed by the Izoard,
How bad is the Agnel? The Tour’s
eighteenth stage starts in Pinerolo,
Italy, at 355 meters altitude, and 107
kilometers later, it will cross the Agnel
into France at almost 2,400 meters
higher. The climb gains a staggering
1,540 meters over 23. 7 kilometers.
That doesn’t even begin to tell the
tale though. Riders will have to climb
almost 1,000 meters just to start the
