AGNEL
official climb, and once they do, the
opening official kilometers of the
climb are just so-so, which means
the real climb rears its oxygen-less
head at around the 1,800-meter
mark in altitude. From there, it’s nine
kilometers at an average of about 10%
for the race to reach its unquestioned
highest point at 2,748 meters.
While brandishing a cruel sword of a
road is the fate of the Agnel, the climb
itself is sheer heaven. While roads
like Alpe d’Huez or the Galibier are
often fraught with a constant flow of
traffic, the Agnel gives the feeling
of perfect isolation. The views of the
neighboring mountains are beyond
compare, and after that ascent we
had a new favorite climb. If you ever
get the chance, go out of your way for
a chance to visit the lonely road into
the heavens that straddles the border
between Italy and France.
Col d’Izoard
[Note: the Agnel is only the first climb
of the day. The Col Agnel is so hard,
something could actually happen on
its slopes, because from there, it’s only
big climb, descent, big climb to the
finish on the Galibier.]
Next up? The climb of legends—the
Izoard. Next to the Col Agnel, the
Izoard doesn’t strike such a terrible
figure, but 14. 1 kilometers at an
average gradient of 7.3% with another
trip into the oxygen deprived realms
of 2,000-plus meters, and a visit to the
Casse Deserte means certain suffering.
The D902 has spiced the history
of the Tour de France since its first
inclusion into the race 89 years ago,
in 1922. The climb has played a part
in countless Tours and will forever be
thick with the legends of Coppi, Bobet
and Bartali. It’s only in the final push
