Today's stage got me thinking about the mountains the rider's will tackle today. I have not ridden the Col d'Iseran but that is not the case with the Telegraphe and Galibier.
The Telegraphe was a thoroughly enjoyable climb. I innocently approached the mountain thinking it was only about 6km long instead of the 12km that it really is. Thinking it was shorter than it was I fearlessly upped the tempo more than I would have done normally. The mountain is forgiving, however. The road is nice with a fair amount of trees to provide cover from the sun and is a very steady grade. I don't recall any major variations. Once you are in a steady rhythm you can carry that pace quite nicely.
The descent into the town of Valloire is much shorter and not technical. You could open up and let the bike really roll. Fast and fun.
Valloire is a small little town. I assume it is a ski village of sorts despite being in a valley. They have some good sized hotels that you wouldn't normally find in a town of that size. They really go "en fete" when the Tour rolls through. Yellow balloons, banners and streamers everywhere. Because of its location between the Telegraphe and Galibier, the town is hopping on Tour day.
Right outside of town is the start of the Galibier. There is a short little steep section just as you leave town and then it "levels off" into a false flat and then very gradually gets a little steeper. The grade kind of sneaks up on you and you find yourself working pretty hard in the 39x24. After a while you come to a truly flat section called the "Plan Lachet" if I recall the name correctly. As the name says, it is a plain. Off to the right is a decent sized lake and high mountains surround you except from the direction you just came. If you look up the mountain on your right you see the cars, campers and cyclists snaking up the hairpinned road to the summit of the Galibier. This upper section is the touger part of the mountain where it is a steady 8% up to the summit.
The Galibier didn't strike me as a brute of a climb. Maybe I would feel different if I hadn't stopped about 3 or 4km from the summit to watch the race go by, but I doubt that would have changed my opinion much. It is not an easy climb but I have suffered more.
Once you summit, the first part of the descent is quite steep before becoming more typical. Its a twisty descent to start and then becomes more of a winding type of road as go further down. The "base" of the Galibier is the summit of the Col du Lautaret. From there you have a looooong gradual descent into Briancon. It will be hard for breakaways to make it stick with the long descent after the Galibier. It is possible, though, as Vinokourov did a few years ago. It's hard to predict a winner on this stage but if it stays together and they go up the hill in Briancon I will pick Valverde for his good sprint and climbing abilities.
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The Telegraphe was a thoroughly enjoyable climb. I innocently approached the mountain thinking it was only about 6km long instead of the 12km that it really is. Thinking it was shorter than it was I fearlessly upped the tempo more than I would have done normally. The mountain is forgiving, however. The road is nice with a fair amount of trees to provide cover from the sun and is a very steady grade. I don't recall any major variations. Once you are in a steady rhythm you can carry that pace quite nicely.
The descent into the town of Valloire is much shorter and not technical. You could open up and let the bike really roll. Fast and fun.
Valloire is a small little town. I assume it is a ski village of sorts despite being in a valley. They have some good sized hotels that you wouldn't normally find in a town of that size. They really go "en fete" when the Tour rolls through. Yellow balloons, banners and streamers everywhere. Because of its location between the Telegraphe and Galibier, the town is hopping on Tour day.
Right outside of town is the start of the Galibier. There is a short little steep section just as you leave town and then it "levels off" into a false flat and then very gradually gets a little steeper. The grade kind of sneaks up on you and you find yourself working pretty hard in the 39x24. After a while you come to a truly flat section called the "Plan Lachet" if I recall the name correctly. As the name says, it is a plain. Off to the right is a decent sized lake and high mountains surround you except from the direction you just came. If you look up the mountain on your right you see the cars, campers and cyclists snaking up the hairpinned road to the summit of the Galibier. This upper section is the touger part of the mountain where it is a steady 8% up to the summit.
The Galibier didn't strike me as a brute of a climb. Maybe I would feel different if I hadn't stopped about 3 or 4km from the summit to watch the race go by, but I doubt that would have changed my opinion much. It is not an easy climb but I have suffered more.
Once you summit, the first part of the descent is quite steep before becoming more typical. Its a twisty descent to start and then becomes more of a winding type of road as go further down. The "base" of the Galibier is the summit of the Col du Lautaret. From there you have a looooong gradual descent into Briancon. It will be hard for breakaways to make it stick with the long descent after the Galibier. It is possible, though, as Vinokourov did a few years ago. It's hard to predict a winner on this stage but if it stays together and they go up the hill in Briancon I will pick Valverde for his good sprint and climbing abilities.
PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best web mail—award-winning Windows Live Hotmail. Check it out!
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