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Thanks!
This would be very good as well:Hardest mountain pass in mainland Spain IMHO is Collado de las Sabinas in Sierra Nevada through Güejar Sierra+Hazallanas+Sabinas, then descending through the main road to Granada (or up again through Sabinas and finishing as high as 2843m, which would be the highest GT point ever ridden). All three parts have been used in the Vuelta before, but never together.
Apart from Ancares (four sides, two of them legit HC), my personal wish would be to see Haza de Lino, south of Granada. Five sides, the two hardest being:
it's being reconditioned, I think.Anyway I take it from reading this thread that the Fauniera road has been reconditioned?
My dream is a stage starting in Cuneo, then Pradleves, Castelmagno, Colle d'Esischie (basically Fauniera, but you turn right 1 km before the summit), descent to Ponte Marmora, Colle di Sampeyre, descent to Sampeyre, summit finish at the Agnello. About 5100 meters of elevation gain in 130 km
That's stage 18 of 2003. They finished stage 17 with 137 riders, but after this behemoth of a stage there were only 97 riders left. Six riders did not finish and 35 riders including Alessandro Petacchi in maglia ciclamino after six stage wins, missed the time cut.
That's stage 18 of 2003. They finished stage 17 with 137 riders, but after this behemoth of a stage there were only 97 riders left. Six riders did not finish and 35 riders including Alessandro Petacchi in maglia ciclamino after six stage wins, missed the time cut.
I mean they have done the Agnello in the Tour and I don't know if there even is a harder french climb? Almost all big, French passes in the pyrenees are overused already (Port de Larrau probably being the hardest of the not so overused ones) the same counts for the passes in the more northern part of the French Alps, and while there are a lot of pretty unknown HC calibre climbs south of Barcelonnette none of them are steep enough to be considered monsters. To be fair, stage 20 of the 2016 Giro was probably about as hard as it can get in that part of France.Now I'm actually curious what the hardest climb that's actually rumored generally for the Tour?
Okay, thank you.
Agreed on a stage around Cortina. Save for the two combos of Mortirolo-Aprica and Finestre-Sestriere
For next years tour? Mont Ventoux.Now I'm actually curious what the hardest climb that's actually rumored generally for the Tour?
Nah I mean overall. What's that climb that does get credible rumors but hasn't happened yet/in a very long timeFor next years tour? Mont Ventoux.
Maybe Granon? Otherwise probably Port de Larrau, but I've never heard a lot of rumours about that one. I guess Col du Jandri rumours are usually not that credible.Nah I mean overall. What's that climb that does get credible rumors but hasn't happened yet/in a very long time
The last few years climbs like Mont du Chat, Grand Colombier, Mont Ventoux and new climbs like Loze and Portet have all been used. All these are probably worth mentioning in a discussion about the toughest climb in France. The only climb I can think of that is equally hard or even harder than these, is some crazy rumour like Parpallion or even MTF at Pic du Midi. But that's probably not credible rumours.......Nah I mean overall. What's that climb that does get credible rumors but hasn't happened yet/in a very long time
In 1995 they had this stage, but an avalanche hit a car of the race organizers on the day of the race and blocked the road on the Agnello, so they had to stop in Pontechianale.I didn't knew about this stage because in 2003 I was only 10 years old, I started to follow pro cycling in 2005 with Ivan Basso at the Tour.
Anyway, that stage must have been great. My suggestion in the previous post was to keep going after Chianale climbing the famous last 10 km of the Agnello.
Those 3 climbs one after the other are out of this world, when the easiest climb (Colle di Sampeyre) is 17.8 km at 7.6%, then you have a problem
In 1995 they had this stage, but an avalanche hit a car of the race organizers on the day of the race and blocked the road on the Agnello, so they had to stop in Pontechianale.
Overall 1995 was a really hard Giro, one of the hardest in the modern era.
The Mortirolo stage last year was pretty similar to Mortirolo-Aprica so that can rest for a bit as far as I'm concernedJust realized that neither of these combos have been used since 2015, although both climbs have been used after that with other stage design. Based on the rumours they will probably not be used next year either, but it would be about damned time they where included again. You can't really go wrong with one of those two stages.
John-Lee AugustynI would love to see Moutiere-Bonette at the Tour, or just Bonette in general. The last time Tour used Bonette was in 2008.
I found that one recently, is it raceable? I'm a pretty big believer in those 20km 2300m+ climbs in general. Even if not Agnello or Fauniera steep they're clearly still a platform for big moves.I would love to see Moutiere-Bonette at the Tour, or just Bonette in general. The last time Tour used Bonette was in 2008.
Sampeyre means taking Fauniera from the north side right?Concerning the "Fausto Coppi" stage (I mean the one with the Fauniera, basically the same route of the Granfondo Fausto Coppi) I have some doubt about the descent from Valmala to Lemma. There is a segment of the descent (few km) with a very narrow road.
For this reason I suppose that they could decide to use the Sampeyre instead of Valmala, because the road descending to Stroppo is a bit wider. I think that Vegni is going to discuss about the Sampeyre with the mayors of the little villages of the Valle Varaita since they were supposed to have the Giro with the Agnello stage this year. The Sampeyre could be a good way to compensate (even if only partially) for the loss of the Agnello in 2020.
The Sampeyre was also in the original route of the Granfondo Fausto Coppi, then they switched to Valmala probably to make the race a bit easier (still 4700 m of elevation gain) and because of poor road surface for the descent. It's been 10 years since the last time I rode the Sampeyre from Stroppo so I am not informed about the condition of the road...however it can't be too bad because it is the only road to reach the Sampeyre from Valle Maira since the amazing road of the "Vallone di Elva" has been closed for years because of landslides.
Sampeyre means taking Fauniera from the north side right?