Stage 19 is the second last chance for the general classification favourites to stake their claim for overall victory, podium or top 10 finishes.
After two very difficult days racing in the Alps, this will be a day where there is the potential for large time gaps due to the severity of the climbs.
In an interview with Cycling News Robert Millar discussed the layout of today’s stage. “Probably the stage which decides the Tour. With a bit of La Madeleine to start with then the hardest side of the Glandon, down the dodgy descent of the Croix de Fer and back up to La Toussaire. Ouch.
“You’ll need all your mental and physical skills on this day because once the climbing starts there are no long recovery zones. The descents are the kind where eating is a calculated risk and the uphills are grippy so this will be a day which takes everyone to their limit.”
Race director Christian Prudhomme echoed the sentiments of Millar on the races official website, by saying, “No title contender will feel relaxed on this stage.”
The stage starts in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and travels over four major climbs, including the finishing climb up to the ski resort of La Toussuire to round off 138 kilometres of short, sharp and painful racing.
There are more kilometres of climbing between St Jean de Maurienne and La Toussuire than any other stage – 61.5km in total. In comparison, Stages 11 to Cauterets, 12 to Plateau de Beille, 17 to Pra Loup and 20 to Alpe d’Huez, all total between 41 and 47km of climbing.
The first climb of the day starts immediately from the finish off the neutral zone, as the peloton is faced with the 15 kilometres, first category climb of the Col du Chaussy. The average gradient for the climb is just above 6 per cent. Another day where the riders will be on the rollers in preparation for today’s stage.
Immediately following the summit, a long descent into the valley occurs, where the riders will come across the intermediate sprint point at 42 kilometres, which is becoming less and less relevant by the day.
15 kilometres after the intermediate sprint, the first of the two major ascents of the day occurs, with the riders embarking on cresting the hors category climb of the Col de la Croix de Fer. The riders should be familiar with this peak, they descended it yesterday after summitting the Col de Glandon.
The climb itself is a painful, never ending brute, averaging at 7 per cent for 22 kilometres, with some sections getting to 10 per cent.
The climb is finished with just over 50 kilometres to go. What faces the riders next is a short descent before starting the category two climb of the Col du Mollard. The easiest of the four climbs, but still averages around 7 per cent for 5.8 kilometres.
16 kilometres of descending then greets the riders before their final task on today’s stage, the hors category one climb of La Toussuire . The climb is 18 kilometres at 6.1 per cent, but after the hard set of climbs previous, it will feel a little longer and little steeper for the riders.
Today is a perfect day for big names looking to go for the King of the Mountains jersey. I think the breakaway will stay away, so Sky have numbers to protect Chris Froome up the final climb, but also looking ahead to tomorrow’s tough final test up Alp d’Huez.
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Whether the attacks have been up the climbs, or on the descents, Froome and his team, especially Geriant Thomas have been superb in nullifying them. There is only another two days for them to hold on.
For me, Sky need to be able to react to any type of attack from Quintana today, whether it be on the difficult final climb, or an attack on one of the earlier climbs, like a Andy Scleck type move from 2011 Galiber stage. With how well rounded Sky are, and their continual dominance, it is very hard to see past them once again making sure nobody gets a meaningful gap.
Chances are running out for Quintana to break Froome. If he is to do so, tactical brilliance from Movistar will have to be on display. We have seen over the past few years that shorter stages often provide a good platform for fast, attacking races.
This should perfectly suit what Quintana needs to do, but he will need things to go his way to be able to get real time on Froome.
For mine, whoever holds the King of the Mountains jersey after today’s stage will win the competiton. Three men seem to be fighting it out.
Joaquim Rodriguez, Jakob Fuglsang and Romain Bardet were in the break yesterday, with Bardet making the most of it, winning the stages, and claiming the key points of the Col de Glandon. For mine, it will be the rider who has the most left in the tank after the three weeks that will claim the prize.
Other riders that need to be looked at for today’s stage include Adam Yates, Pierre Roland, Rigoberto Uran, Thibaut Pinot, Andrew Talansky, Winner Anacona, Serge Pauwels.
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