It’s another unrelenting day in the saddle for the riders after the queen stage, as the Tour de France heads from the town of Albertville in the heart of the French Alps to a summit finish at the ski resort of La Plagne (19.1km at 7.2%), with five categorised climbs along the route.
The riders are somewhat thrown in at the deep end at the beginning of the stage, as after a short 8km-long run-in they take on back-to-back climbs with the category two Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine (11.3km at 5.1%) and the category one Col des Saisies (13.7km at 6.4%).
A fairly long descent is then followed by the hors catégorie Col du Pré (12.6km at 7.7%), which then leads into the category two Cormet de Roselend (5.9km at 6.3%). Another section of downhill then brings the riders into Bourg-Saint-Maurice, where they will begin the 13km-long valley road to the foot of the final climb.
Despite not featuring at the Tour de France since 2002, the ascent to La Plagne is steeped in history, evoking memories of Stephen Roche emerging from the clouds in 1987 to limit his losses to Pedro Delgado before going on to win that year’s edition. The climb itself will be a true test of which riders have kept enough in reserve for the end of the third week, as many will be focusing on just making it to the finish and one step closer to Paris.
Stage 19 Sprints
- Ugine, km. 8
Stage 19 Mountains
- Côte d'Hèry-sur-Ugine (cat. 2), km. 21.4
- Col des Saisies (cat. 1), km. 35.1
- Col du Pré (HC), km. 66
- Cormet de Roselend (cat. 2), km. 78.5
- La Plagne (HC), km. 129.9
