Tour de France 2014 Route stage 14: Grenoble

Tour de France 2014 Route stage 14: Grenoble – Risoul

Saturday, July 19th – Deep into the Alps today. Three tough cols, 177 kilometres and a summit finish at the new climb of the Risoul. Expect fireworks! (Slideshow route/profile)

The peloton last visited Grenoble in the 2011 Tour. Tony Martin won the time trial that day with Cadel Evans sealing a famous overall victory.

Today’s ride heads east and goes deep into the Alps. After 40 kilometres in the saddle they arrive in Bourg d’Oisans, at 721 metres above sea level. Most of the famous Tour climbs are easily reached from the town. Today they head to the Col du Lautaret . The climb is 34 kilometres long but modest at 3.4%.

Col d’Izoard

Col du Lautaret is at an altitude of 2,085 metres and it takes 24.5 kilometres to descent to the beautiful fortress of Briançon, located at 1,355 metres. A little later the riders are at the base of Col d’Izoard. The ascent is 19 kilometres long with an average gradient of 6%. In the 2011 Tour, it was the second col in a long ride to the Galibier, which was won by Andy Schleck and put him in yellow.

Risoul

Stage 14 closes with a new climb for the Tour. The ski resort at the Italian border is reached after 12.8 kilometres. The steepest part is between kilometre 10 and 12, with an average gradient of 8.5% on this section. Overall average is 6.9%.

The 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné closed with a climb to Risoul. Allessandro De Marchi won the stage and Chris Froome was second. With that result Froome not only took the overall victory but made it all too clear he would be the man to watch that year’s Tour de France.