THE ROUTE
It’s only the eighth time the
Tour has tackled this pass,
and only the second it’s
been approached from its
shorter but steeper southern
side. The old mule track that
once brought cheesemakers
home after a day of trading
in Piedmont is just 12.9km
long, but with an average
gradient of 7.5%, it presents
a formidable test.
Climbing into
history
wo days before
the Champs-
Élysées finale,
and the day after
a gruelling high-altitude trio,
comes the Tour’s highest
climb. On the 126.5km route
between Saint-Jean-de-
Maurienne and Tignes lies
the Col de l’Iseran, Europe’s
highest pass at 2 770m.
T
The reason the Iseran isn’t a
regular feature on the Tour
is probably because it’s a
bit off the beaten track. But
the yellow jersey centenary
provided a good excuse for a
little detour.
The first time the peloton
faced this giant was in 1938
on the stage from Briançon
to Aix-les-Bains, soon
after work on the road had
been completed. With Tour
founder Henri Desgrange
looking on, the first rider to
reach the top was Belgium’s
Félicien Vervaecke, one
of the best climbers of his
era, which was underlined
by his two victories in the
mountains classification in
1935 and 1937.
The following year, the
Iseran was the principal test
in a mountain time trial – the
Tour’s first ever – that was
won by the eventual overall
champion, Sylvère Maes.
It’s also remembered as
the summit where, in 1959,
Louison Bobet, ground down
by bronchitis, dismounted
and said farewell to the Tour
de France, a race he had won
three times – in 1953, 1954
and 1955.
During the 1960s, the
Iseran only hosted the Tour
once, in 1963, when Spanish
climber Jesus Manzaneque
carved out the second of his
three Tour stage victories
on its slopes. After being
overlooked for almost 30
years, the Iseran then made
a dramatic return in 1992,
when Claudio Chiappucci
produced a fantastic ride on
its slopes, hoping to steal
the yellow jersey from Pascal
Lino – Lino did lose it, but it
was Miguel Indurain who put
it on that evening.
1996 produced another
memorable moment,
when heavy snow fell in
the height of summer and
cloaked three-quarters of
what seemed set to be an
epic Alpine stage between
Val-d’Isère and Sestriere.
The start was moved to
Monêtier-les-Bains and the
Iseran and Galibier passes
were dropped from the route.
“ON PAPER, IT’S A
SIMPLE PASS, BUT
IT’S REALLY HIGH”
The linking of the Tour’s two
“roofs” finally took place
in 2007 on the Le Grand-
Bornand to Tignes stage
when Ukraine’s Yaroslav
Popovych led the race over
the summit of the Iseran.
Tignes for dessert
“I’ve never climbed the
Iseran in the Tour de France,”
says Thibaut Pinot. “The
side we’re tackling this year
is shorter than the climb
on the other side, which it’s
fair to say is interminable.
However, the difficulty with
climbing it from Bonneval-
sur-Arc is that you’re already
above 1 800m at the start,
which means the altitude
will already have had some
impact on our bodies before
we tackle the first ramps. On
paper, it’s a simple pass, but
it’s really high.”
The Groupama-FDJ climber,
who finished third overall and
best young rider in the 2014
Tour and won at Alpe d’Huez
in 2015, knows this region
well. He has an apartment
in Tignes, where he goes to
enjoy the snow in winter and
to do altitude training camps
during the season. He did a
camp at the ski resort in 2018
before a successful Vuelta,
where he took two victories
in the mountains. As a result,
this stage means a lot to him.
That’s also because the
climbing doesn’t end with the
Iseran. The descent will take
riders to Val-d’Isère, from
where they will follow a small
road to Les Brévières before
continuing to the final ascent
into Tignes. Pinot knows the
climb (7.4km at 7%) like the
back of his hand. “I’ve done it
dozens of times, I know it by
heart. When I’m in Tignes, I
go up that way. It’s a short cut
from Bourg-Saint-Maurice
and there are fewer cars. It is
especially difficult near the
bottom. I think a lot of riders
will get a kick in the teeth in
Les Brévières because the
road to the dam is steep. It
isn’t that long but the gradient
is 9% before the route returns
to the main road and finishes
with 4km at 6 or 7%.” The
French climber is sure that
the foot of this final climb will
hurt… Certainly, it could prove
decisive for the stage win. ●
The ski resort of Tignes sits high in
the Alps near the Italian border.
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