Queen stage home to Tour’s highest ever finish

Stage 18: Pinerolo – Galibier Serre Chevalier, 189 kilometres

As mountain stages go they do come any tougher than stage 18 where three giants of the Alps lie in wait as the Tour returns to France for its first and highest ever finish on top of the mighty Col du Galibier.

There is no where to hide on this ‘queen stage’ and those fighting for a podium place in Paris will meet their match on the day’s hors category climbs which also include the Col Agnel (107kms) and Cold d’Izoard (145.5kms).

The Tour first discovered the Col Angel in 2008 when the 2,744 metre high beast was the highest climb in that year’s edition. It makes another appearance as ‘the roof’ of this year’s Tour and the 6.5% average gradient over 23.7 kilometres will have a crushing effect on the peloton.

Those who survive to the Col d’Izoard face a huge task to remain in contention over the lunar landscape where the gradient averages 7.3% for 14.1 kilometres before the climb tops out at 2,360 metres. 

The 20 kilometre descent off the top of the mountain will allow some riders to regain contact with the group of race favourites en route to the Galibier but this group should not be any bigger than twenty or thirty riders.

The Galibier first appeared on the race route in 1911 and the first ever summit finish will celebrate the centenary of the mythical climb which famously prompted the Tour’s founder Henri Desgrange to remark: “Next to the Galibier you are nothing at all”.

The highest ever finish in the Tour’s history up to today’s stage was on the 2,413 high Col du Granon in 1986 where Eduardo Chozas was first to the summit. The only small comfort about writing this new chapter in the Tour’s history is that riders will climb the Galibier from its easier east side.

The climb drags for 22.8 kilometres over an average gradient of 4.9%. The riders will have 178 kilometres in the legs by the time they get there and it is guaranteed to have an impact on the pecking order and time gaps separating those at the top of the general classification.

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