Dole is the place where Louis Pasteur, developer of the first vaccines, was born two hundred years ago. The town hosted two starts of a Tour de France stage until now. The last time was in 2017. The race went to Station des Rouses, where Lilian Calmejane took the spoils.
Lausanne saw the first Tour de France stage finish in 1948 with a Gino Bartali triumph. The Swiss town hosted other finishes in 1949 (Vincenzo Rovello win), in 1952 (Walter Diggelmann win), in 1978 (Gerrie Knetemann win), and in 2000 (Erik Dekker win).
So that’s two Dutch victories in the last two Lausanne finishes. Mathieu van der Poel is a likely candidate to complete the hattrick, as the finale suits his characteristics. Following three midway climbs – Côte du Maréchet (2 kilometres at 5.7%), Côte des Rousses (6.6 kilometres at 5%), Col de Pétra Félix (2.4 kilometres at 1.5%) – the riders fly down into Switzerland and after roughly 15 kilometes on the flat the route begins to rise again in the last 5 kilometres.
It’s an irregular finish climb with 1 kilometre at 9.5% right after a short descent, while that steep section precedes a last kilometre at 3.4%.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX stage 8 Tour de France.
Another interesting read: results 8th stage 2022 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2022 stage 8: routes, profiles, more
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