Once before the Tour de France visited Tignes. We’re referring to the 2007 Tour de France when Michael Rasmussen climbed to both the stage win and yellow jersey. The party didn’t last all the way to Paris though as the Dane was, while well on his way to winning the overall classification, removed from the Tour for lying about his whereabouts.
Obviously, Tignes wants to make a new name for itself on the Tour de France. The mountain village lies at an elevation of 2,113 metres and at the end of a demanding stage.
The race sets off in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The Tour visited the village in 2015 with Romain Bardet soloing to victory. It served as a departure place for the following stage to La Toussuire summit finish, where Vincenzo Nibali took the spoils.
This time the riders leave for Tignes on a short yet demanding route. Basically, the road goes up once the flag is dropped – not dramatically, but stoically. On rolling and constantly sloping terrain the riders reach the foot of the Côte de Saint-André, where the incline steepens to 6.8% for 3.1 kilometres. Following a short descent and a rare stint on the flat the route returns to climbing on the Montée d’Aussois, which is a 6.5 kilometres long uphill at 6.2% with its crest after 38 kilometres.
The route continues to bump steadily upwards to the Col de la Madeleine (3.9 kilometres at 5.6%) before a false flat takes the riders to the foot of the Col de l’Iseran, an irregular climb of 12.9 kilometres. The average slope sits at 7.5%, but the penultimate kilometre before the top goes up at double digit gradients. The first three riders over the summit earn 8, 5 and 2 bonus seconds.
Following the descent to Val d’Isère the route follows Lake Chevril for a few kilometres before a short descent plummets down to the base of the final ascent. The first 3 kilometres in particular rise very steeply, while the average gradients of the 7.4 kilometres climb sits at 7%. The 2 final kilometres to Tignes are a false flat.
Time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds are awarded to the first three riders on the line. Plus, as mentioned, there are extra seconds available at the Col de l’Iseran.
Another interesting read: results/race report 19th stage 2019 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2019 stage 19: route, profiles, more
Click on the images to zoom
We are staying in Annecy that week and would like to know where would be a good place to see the Tour go by on its way to Tigne that we can drive to that morning. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Mrtyn