Stage 14: Pau - Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet
Almost two-thirds of the way into the race, we arrive at the first MTF. For the last Tour that had its first MTF this late, we need to go back to 2006 if we don’t consider Pla de Beret (KOM at 2k to go) a MTF, and to the awful 1992 route if we do – but of course, we won’t hear the cycling media about that when they do their annual talking up the route spiel. The stage itself is… fine, I guess, just don’t expect much before the MTF.The route
Zero transfer overnight, so instead of talking about the stage start, we can jump straight into the action for once. The first half of the stage is flat, the most prominent stopoff being Lourdes, living proof that all you need to prosper as a city is one person convincing the world an important religious figure has appeared to them.
At the stage’s approximate midpoint, there is the intermediate sprint, in Esquièze-Sère.
This village borders Luz-Saint-Sauveur, and that can only mean one thing: time to head up one of ASO’s three favourite climbs. With neither the super-mediocre nor the Alp of alcohol abuse appearing this year, it was inevitable. Now, I know I said this last year too, but this time round, major GC action here really is as likely as me climbing it on a unicycle.
After a long descent, the riders reach the easiest climb of the day, Hourquette d’Anzican from the lesser side.
Following the descent and a short valley section, it’s time for a MTF I didn’t expect to see ever again. No, it’s not as big a surprise as Puy de Dôme last year, but when you’ve introduced Col de Portet (which is in the same ski resort, the same municipality, and follows the same road up to Espiaube, at almost 1500 metres), it’s rather weird to regress to the classic Pla d’Adet when that climb is barely half the difficulty. It becomes stranger still when you aren’t designing the stage for long-range action anyway.
Just like in the old days, the MTF is a rather overcategorised HC. This will be its eleventh inclusion in the Tour, and the first since 2014 (victory for Rafal Majka). The most famous stage to finish here is surely that of 1976, when Lucien Van Impe was forced into a long-range attack on Peyresourde by his illustrious DS Cyrille Guimard, who threatened to run him off the road if he stayed put. It won him that Tour, which remains the last Belgian victory.
The route deviates slightly from the profile below towards the end, taking a different, longer, but more irregular approach for its final 1.5 kilometres.
I’ve kind of exhausted things to talk about where Pla d’Adet is concerned, and Saint-Lary-Soulan isn’t really noteworthy outside of mountain and spa tourism (and of course cycling), so I guess I’ll wrap this post up with a picture of the town taken from the road up to the MTF.
What to expect?
Hotly-anticipated answers in the GC battle, but it would take a truly thermonuclear attack to strike a decisive blow here…
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