Behicaro, yes, I had it on my St-Jean de Luz-St Etienne de Baigorry.
STAGE 8 – ST JEAN DE LUZ-ST ETIENNE DE BAIGORRY – 184.2K
KOM : Col de St-Ignace (Cat 4), 2.5K @ 5.8% - Collado Urbia (Cat 3), 5.9K @ 6.2% - Collardo Ugarte (Cat 3), 4.2K @ 7.7% - Monte Gorramendi (Cat 2), 13K @ 5.7% - Col de Lindus (Cat 1), 8.3K @ 8.8% - Col d’Elhursaro (HC), 8.1K @ 9.7% - Col d’Irey (Cat 1), 4.3K @ 10.5% - Col de Behicaro (Cat 1), 4.2K @ 11.4% - Col d’Urdanzia (Cat 1), 7.1K @ 9.5%.
As the riders gather and get on the saddle in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, let’s hope they enjoy the nice and sweet smell of flowers blooming in Parc Ducontenia. Because the rest of the day is going to be much less pleasant...the first part of the stage is a big time grind and gruppettos will quickly form. The roads are decent and wide for now. The long and narrow climb up the western flank of Monte Gorramendi is the first serious test. Then, with 100K to go, the real action begins in the Col de Lindus, a back country road leading back to France via Roncesvalles (a.k.a Puerto Ibañeta, a.k.a. Col de Roncevaux).
The one-two-three-four punch that concludes this stage is absolutely lethal, Mayomaniatic-in-Autria-style if I may say. First one on the menu is a beast: the Col d’Elhursaro.
At the intersection on top of the climb, instead of continuing to the summit (Col d’Arnostéguy) of the big mountain, we take a left and head north-east. After the descent, the riders will face two relatively short but deadly climbs back to back: the Col d’Irey and the Col de Behicaro. By then, many top-10 or top-5 hopefuls will be minutes behind. The last climb of the day will be the final nail in some riders’ coffins: le Col d’Urdanzia. Munhoa, listed as 7.2K @ 9.8% on the attached profile, a little bit less on mine: it’s another monster.
The descent to the finish in St-Etienne-de-Baïgorry is narrow but not too technical. There will be big winners and big losers.
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