True, Roglic is always saving energy for the next race.
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A little off topic, but TDF related.
What would you classify as the 10 hardest TDF climbs in the modern era. Hard to do off the top of my head but I'll start it off with the 10 hardest I can recall.
1. Col du Granon
2. Col du Portet
3. Col du Galibier
4. Col de la Loze
5. Mont Ventoux
6. Col du Tourmalet
7. Col de la Bonette
8. Col de la Madeleine
9. Plateau de Beille
10. Mont du Chat
What ones would you include or omit???
I've left out a few legendary climbs like Alpe d'Huez and Aubisque. Then some more of the tough modern ones like Hautacam, Pierre St.Martin etc.
What would you classify as the 10 hardest TDF climbs in the modern era. Hard to do off the top of my head but I'll start it off with the 10 hardest I can recall.
1. Col du Granon
2. Col du Portet
3. Col du Galibier
4. Col de la Loze
5. Mont Ventoux
6. Col du Tourmalet
7. Col de la Bonette
8. Col de la Madeleine
9. Plateau de Beille
10. Mont du Chat
What ones would you include or omit???
I've left out a few legendary climbs like Alpe d'Huez and Aubisque. Then some more of the tough modern ones like Hautacam, Pierre St.Martin etc.
My dream is see Col du Sabot one day in the Tour.
I think La Loze and Ventoux are more hard than Portet and Galibier.
Granon is the hardest, no doubt.
In no particular order
- Portet
- Tourmalet east
- Madeleine south
- Mont Ventoux
- Mont du Chat
- Loze 2020 version
- Agnello east
- Pierre Saint Martin north
- Croix-de-Fer north.
- GSB north
Don't even remember some of these being raced? It's cause designs were designed to minimize the effect of some of these beasts.
Granon is just super, super hard due to always being a MTF after a long day in the Alps and the altitude for such a relatively steep climb. Purely looking at the numbers, a climb like Portet should definitely be harder, but in terms of creating big gaps and havoc among the best riders, its prolly number 1 or close to it due to other factors than straight up numbers
You really don't believe Granon is more harder than the majority of those climbs?
Granon have all the necessary for big gaps:altitude, decent lenght, stepness, narrow road.
I would put Grand Colombier SE above Pierre Saint Martin north, very similar climbs anyway, but one was a super hard Sky demolition and the other is Pogačar turns into Roglič land.
Let's hope for Plateau de Solaison in the Tour.
Col Madeleine is probably the most underrated climb in France.
Col Madeleine is probably the most underrated climb in France.
There are infinite climbs like Plateau de Solaison that arent really used. Best example of that is Samoens and Collet d' Allevard from this year's Dauphine Libere. All three of them would be great MTFs, especially Samoens
Loze (2020 version) and Mt Ventoux (in this order) are overall (combination of steepness and elevation gain) arguably two most difficult climbs ever used in the Tour. As for other very hard climbs, @Red Rick 's list is very good. if one treat Galibier+Telegraphe combo as one climb then it's absolutely huge (almost 2000 m of elevation gain) but it has a descent break for recovery.
Think most intelligent people consider Telegraphe + Galibier just as Galibier N. Especially if you have ridden the damn thing.
I was considering GC then I couldn't remember which side they'd done back in 2012 and decided against it, but yeah it can probably go over PSM. Tbh I can't even remember if deliberately deleted Larrau or if I really decided I rated PSM higher and I made the damned list 30 minutes ago.
GC got shafted cause I already had 10 when I thought of it and I really wanted to include GSB because it's such a prime example of 'super hard climb, never used properly'
Of course depends on the intensity they are climbed, i.e. eg. whether they are just "bumps in the road" or MTF with everything on the line for the best climbers.
I remember sometime in the 00s having used Gabriele Bugada's 'difficulty index' on salite.ch to form the basis of a pecking order, based on this calculation method:
Eg. this difficulty ranking for France:
Note e.g. Val Thorens in its full ascent being present already at page 1 here.
In addition, the process before a MTF.
Isola 2000 on the 11th stage of the 1993 edition with 179km stage from Serre Sevalier over monsters like Col d'Izoard - Col du Vars - Cìme du La Bonette-Restefond as a warm-up is a significantly tougher climb than e.g. with short stage 'false flat' from Nice as run up.
I would personally also place Col du Granon high on the list if, for example, The Col du Madelaine and Col du Télegraphe-Col Galibier monster have been passed before a final battle.
But actually also in itself when the avg. percentage is +9% distributed over +11km (l'Alpe d'Huez is approx. 8% plus/minus, depending on the definiton of start/end measurement)
(think it requires me to go into the thinking box before I make a personal top 10 bid)
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Narrow road doesn't matter to me, I don't think altitude is that important, especially for a standalone climb, and Granon benefitted to an extreme degree by the way Galibier was raced in 2022. It's not like the Granon overall gaps were bigger than the Hautacam stage.
Granon is a good HC climb and MTF - it's not one of the top 10 climbs in France.
Thing is I don't even think Telegraphe/Galibier does that much damage if it's raced hard. Condering what Jumbo did in 2022 and what Contador did in 2011, the race situations at the foot of Granon and AdH respectviely were extremely underwhelming.
I also think that for professionals difficulty should lean more towards steepness for a long time whereas for us amateurs and weekend warriors overall duration is gonna be most of the difficulty as long as you have enough gears to not fall off your bike on a steep section.
- Loze (2020)
- Agnel (2011)
- Portet (2021)
- Ventoux (2021)
- Bonette (2024)
- Madeleine (2020)
- Madeleine (2013)
- Croix de Fer (2015)
- Larrau (2007)
- Pailhères (2013)
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Yes, at same altitude Madeleine would have been above it. And Bonette looks cooler.
In 15 years time, ASO might do a grand depart in Turkey and take a trip up Mount Babadag to put to bed all arguments as to the hardest used TDF climb😂😂
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