After a hectic stage, which saw Quintana take his third stage win in the Tour de France and Alaphilippe managing to hold on to the yellow jersey, there is another chance to strike tomorrow in the penultimate mountain stage to Tignes.
A short stage it is, which includes five categorized climbs, with the mighty 2770 meter tall Col d'Iseran (HC), which is the Souvenir Henri Desgrange this year. Before the main course that is Iseran, the appetizers Côte de Saint-André, Montée d'Aussois (a new climb in the Tour) and Col de la Madeleine must be endured first.
The first climb is the cat 3 Côte de Saint-André, which is a 3 km long climb at 6,8% and serves as a warm up...
...before Montée d'Aussois, which starts at Modane, gives the riders a taste of what is to come - 6,5 km with an average of 6,2%. There isn't an official profile for this climb, but the profile by PCS (which paints the climb as 1,5 km longer and less steep - perhaps because they include a flat stretch at the end?) suggests a rather regular climb with a more stingy middle section…
...before riding in a plateau at 1500 meters above sealevel the following 25 kms, where the start of the Col de la Madeleine lies - no, it is not the Col de la Madeleine, but its little twin sister in the Maurienne valley…
...and with no descent, the riders will continue to ride at an altitude of 1700 meters. In fact, they will stay consistently 1500 meters above sea level the rest of the stage. This continues for a while, before they approach the 13 km long and irregular Col d'Iseran, whose summit is the highest point of the race...
...and on top of that, there are bonus seconds to take, which might come in handy in a Tour as close as this one. It is a climb the Tour hasn't visited since 2007, so the riders won't know it as they know Tourmalet or Alpe d'Huez. From Col d'Iseran the riders descend down to the bottom of the last climb only visited by the Tour onc in 2007; it is Montée du Tignes which is slightly more merciful...
...being only 7,5 kilometers long with an average incline of 7%. The very same place Michael Rasmussen rode himself into the yellow jersey, and until his abandon was stronger than his competitors in the 2007 Tour de France.
As then, the climb is followed by a 1,5 km flat to the finish line in Tignes.
General classification on before stage 19:
1. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (DQS)
2. Egan BERNAL (INEOS) + 1'30''
3. Geraint THOMAS (INEOS) + 1'35''
4. Steven KRUIJSWIJK (Jumbo) + 1'47''
5. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) + 1'50''
6. Emanuel BUCHMANN (Bora) + 2'14''
7. Nairo QUINTANA (Movistar) + 3'54''
8. Mikel LANDA (Movistar) + 4'54''
9. Rigoberto URAN (EF1) + 5'33''
10. Alejandro VALVERDE (Movistar) + 5'58''
Green jersey competition:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 309
2. Elia VIVIANI (DQS) 224
3. Sonny COLBRELLI (Merida) 203
4. Michael MATTHEWS (Sunweb) 201
5. Caleb EWAN (Lotto) 198
Polka-dot jersey competition:
1. Romain BARDET (AG2R) 86
2. Tim WELLENS (Lotto) 74
3. Damiano CARUSO (B. Merida) 60
4. Nairo QUINTANA (Movistar) 33
5. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) 50
Youth classification:
1. Egan BERNAL (INEOS)
2. not determined yet, likely David GAUDU (FDJ)
3. not determined yet, likely Enric MAS (DQS)
I have experienced problems connecting to the forum almost every day during the Tour, especially today where haven't been able to access this place since early morning, when I made this post - and someone must probably do the stage OP for the last stages. Websites ledicodutour.com (facts about climbs and cities) and meteonews.fr (weather forecasts for cities and climbs) can be of great help, as they have been for me. See you after the great update, which can come too soon!
btw Bernal to win the Tour and continue INEOS/SKY-dominance!
A short stage it is, which includes five categorized climbs, with the mighty 2770 meter tall Col d'Iseran (HC), which is the Souvenir Henri Desgrange this year. Before the main course that is Iseran, the appetizers Côte de Saint-André, Montée d'Aussois (a new climb in the Tour) and Col de la Madeleine must be endured first.
The first climb is the cat 3 Côte de Saint-André, which is a 3 km long climb at 6,8% and serves as a warm up...
...before Montée d'Aussois, which starts at Modane, gives the riders a taste of what is to come - 6,5 km with an average of 6,2%. There isn't an official profile for this climb, but the profile by PCS (which paints the climb as 1,5 km longer and less steep - perhaps because they include a flat stretch at the end?) suggests a rather regular climb with a more stingy middle section…
...before riding in a plateau at 1500 meters above sealevel the following 25 kms, where the start of the Col de la Madeleine lies - no, it is not the Col de la Madeleine, but its little twin sister in the Maurienne valley…
...and with no descent, the riders will continue to ride at an altitude of 1700 meters. In fact, they will stay consistently 1500 meters above sea level the rest of the stage. This continues for a while, before they approach the 13 km long and irregular Col d'Iseran, whose summit is the highest point of the race...
...and on top of that, there are bonus seconds to take, which might come in handy in a Tour as close as this one. It is a climb the Tour hasn't visited since 2007, so the riders won't know it as they know Tourmalet or Alpe d'Huez. From Col d'Iseran the riders descend down to the bottom of the last climb only visited by the Tour onc in 2007; it is Montée du Tignes which is slightly more merciful...
...being only 7,5 kilometers long with an average incline of 7%. The very same place Michael Rasmussen rode himself into the yellow jersey, and until his abandon was stronger than his competitors in the 2007 Tour de France.
As then, the climb is followed by a 1,5 km flat to the finish line in Tignes.
General classification on before stage 19:
1. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (DQS)
2. Egan BERNAL (INEOS) + 1'30''
3. Geraint THOMAS (INEOS) + 1'35''
4. Steven KRUIJSWIJK (Jumbo) + 1'47''
5. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) + 1'50''
6. Emanuel BUCHMANN (Bora) + 2'14''
7. Nairo QUINTANA (Movistar) + 3'54''
8. Mikel LANDA (Movistar) + 4'54''
9. Rigoberto URAN (EF1) + 5'33''
10. Alejandro VALVERDE (Movistar) + 5'58''
Green jersey competition:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 309
2. Elia VIVIANI (DQS) 224
3. Sonny COLBRELLI (Merida) 203
4. Michael MATTHEWS (Sunweb) 201
5. Caleb EWAN (Lotto) 198
Polka-dot jersey competition:
1. Romain BARDET (AG2R) 86
2. Tim WELLENS (Lotto) 74
3. Damiano CARUSO (B. Merida) 60
4. Nairo QUINTANA (Movistar) 33
5. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) 50
Youth classification:
1. Egan BERNAL (INEOS)
2. not determined yet, likely David GAUDU (FDJ)
3. not determined yet, likely Enric MAS (DQS)
I have experienced problems connecting to the forum almost every day during the Tour, especially today where haven't been able to access this place since early morning, when I made this post - and someone must probably do the stage OP for the last stages. Websites ledicodutour.com (facts about climbs and cities) and meteonews.fr (weather forecasts for cities and climbs) can be of great help, as they have been for me. See you after the great update, which can come too soon!
btw Bernal to win the Tour and continue INEOS/SKY-dominance! 
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram