Tour de France 2019 Route stage 20: Albertville - Val Thorens

[The final mountain stage of the Tour de France is shortened due to landslides along the route. Insted of taking underneath route, the riders travel on the flat from Albertville to Moutiers to rejoin the original route approximately 36 kilometres from the finish. The Cormet Roselend and the Longefoy are cut out, so the race comes down to the 33.4 kilometres climb to Val Thorens.

Underneath you’ll read about the original route. Obviously, the final climb remains unchanged.]

Albertville hosted four stage starts – in the Tour de Frances of 1998, 2012, 2016 and 2018. Last year’s stage traveled to La Rosière and was won by Geraint Thomas ahead of Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome. So the final GC podium in Paris.

Following the start the route runs on a false flat to the foot of the Col du Méraillet. When the riders reach the top, the climb continues on the Cormet de Roselend. The two ascents combined total 19.9 kilometres and the average gradient is 6%.

The route descends to Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs and after a flat section of some 10 kilometres the Côte de Longefoy appears – 6.6 kilometres at 6.5%. At kilometre 77 the summit is reached, but the downhill starts 4 kilometres later.

A short section in the valley leads to the last climb of the 2019 Tour de France. The road starts to rise in Moûtiers and continues to do so for quite a while. The Val Thorens climb is 33.4 kilometres at 5.5%, although that statistic is biased by a number of downhills on the way to Europe’s highest ski resort (2,365 metres). The steepest kilometre slopes at 9.1% and is located 5 kilometres before the finish.

Val Thorens high altitude finish was included only once. In 1994, Colombian Nelson Rodriguez climbed to victory on the hors catégorie slopes.

Tour de France 2019 stage 20: route, profiles, more

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Val Thorens