THE ROUTE
In 2010, white jersey holder
Andy Schleck beat yellow
jersey Alberto Contador to
the Tourmalet summit finish.
HIGH TIME
La Grande Boucle serves up its first
high-altitude finish on Stage 14, with
riders tackling 117.5km in the Pyrenees,
first climbing the Col du Soulor before
heading to the summit of the Col du
Tourmalet. It’s a strategic test that could
blow the race apart. BY JEAN-PAUL VESPINI
76 | TO U R
D E F R A NC E 2019
hen Peugeot’s
Jean-Pierre
Danguillaume
won the 1974
stage that was the first
to finish at the top of
Tourmalet, the mountain
delivered a whimper rather
than a roar. The slopes of the
staple Pyrenean pass had
been made more human
thanks to the widened road
and re-engineered bends
– but the climb didn’t upset
the general classification.
Eddy Merckx had the Tour
completely under control
W
and the contest was
practically done.
In contrast, the second
Tourmalet summit finish, in
2010, delivered a superb
duel between two top riders.
In the end, it was Andy
Schleck who crossed the
line first, with yellow jersey
Alberto Contador hot on his
back wheel. That year the
summit came at the end of
a longer stage (174km) that
featured the Marie-Blanque
and Soulor passes, which
encouraged the formation
of an early break.
DELEVAUX
PYRENEES GIANT