“The hardest stage in history”

Alpe d’Huez needs no introduction. Their 21 curvesits endless corridor of fans and the collection of champions who have raised their arms at its summit have turned it into one of the great sanctuaries of the cycling. There you don’t just win a stage. There you enter the history.

However, more than seven decades after his appearance in Tour de Francethe alpine mountain was still capable of hiding a secret. The organization will reveal it this year with an extraordinary bet: two endings consecutive in Alpe d’Huezbut reached through completely different routes.

The first day will respect the classic ritual. The platoon will arrive from gap and you will ascend towards the station along the road that turned the port into legend, with its 21 curves horseshoe and an atmosphere that usually transforms the mountain into an open-air stadium.

One day later, the race will return to Bourg d’Oisansalthough this time it will not follow the known path. The runners will have to face the slope of the Sarenne cabbagea much wilder, narrower and irregular road that until recently seemed incompatible with passing a test of the size of the Tour. It will be the last great battle before Paris.

Two ascents, one mountain

He double pass by Alpe d’Huez It does not respond solely to the desire to pay tribute to one of the emblematic places of the race. It also shows the intention of Tour to explore new territories within seemingly familiar settings.

For decades, Alpe d’Huez has been associated with a single access. From Bourg d’Oisansthe road begins to rise almost without warning and chains the numbered curves that bear the names of the champions that they have won there. “A disco at two in the morning,” summarizes the British Geraint Thomas to show what this port means

The image is part of the collective memory of cycling: the runners advancing between flares, flags and fans located a few centimeters away; the favorites attacking each other in a deafening crowd; and the station appearing in the background after an ascent in which it is impossible to hide any weakness. But the second arrival will break that script.

The race will be accessed by Sarennea mountain pass located on the other side of the station that for a long time was considered more as an exit than as a possible access route. Your road, rough and exposed, it enters a much more solitary landscape. It does not have the monumental appearance of the 21 curvesalthough it offers a hardness and a sensation of isolation capable of completely altering the race.

“The idea is no longer to ascend Sarenne cabbagebut to climb this slope that until recently many considered impractical,” explains Christian Prudhommedirector of Tour.

The hardest stage of the race

The final day will not only be a new climb to Alpe d’Huez. Before reaching Sarennethe platoon must overcome a succession of difficulties that will turn the route into a test of survival.

From Bourg d’Oisanscyclists will tackle some of the most demanding roads in the Alps. The chain of passes and the accumulation of kilometers of climbing will wear down the group before the unknown side. Prudhomme sums it up bluntly: “It is the hardest mountain stage of this Tour, with 3,450 meters of elevation gain.”

The figure It explains part of the difficulty, but not all. The stage will reach the end of three weeks of competition, when the forces will be at the limit and any small weakness could translate into minutes. There will be no room to correct mistakes or a subsequent mountain on which to recover lost ground. The Tour will be decided there, between narrow roads and a rugged landscape, with Paris waiting for the next day.

The memory of 2013

He Sarenne cabbage is not completely unknown to him Tour. The race used it in 2013 during a historic day that included two ascensions to Alpe d’Huez.

That day, the runners went first up the 21 curves traditional, crossed the station and descended Sarenne before returning to Bourg d’Oisans to face the classic climb again. Christophe Riblon achieved victory after a stage marked by spectacle, wear and tension that caused a relegation considered especially delicate.

That experience opened a door. He Tour verified that Sarenne could be part of a highly demanding route, although for years it remained an alternative reserved for special occasions. exceptional.

Now, the organization has taken another step. Instead of using it as a descent, it turns it into the definitive access to Alpe d’Huez. The direction of the road changes and so does its role in the race: it will no longer be a transition zone, but the stage on which the podium contenders will have to play this race.

A rise without references

The side of Sarenne It will pose a different challenge than the traditional climb. In the 21 curvesthe runners know almost every meter. The equipment handles data accumulated over decades and riders can easily identify the places where it is best to attack, recover or save forces. In Sarenne there will be much fewer references.

He firmthe width of the road and changes in slope will require different management. The environment will also influence. Instead of the constant bustle of the classic climb, a good part of the climb takes place through a more open and unprotected landscape, in which the wind and the meteorological conditions can acquire a decisive role.

That character unpredictable It is precisely what the organization is looking for. He Modern tour Try to prevent the big stages from being reduced to an attack in the last kilometers. To do this, it needs routes that generate doubts, force the teams to make decisions and punish any strategy that is too conservative. Sarenne brings together all those ingredients.

Pantani and the spirit of the mountain

Alpe d’Huez It is also built on memories. Fausto Coppi was the first winner in 1952. Then came names like Joop Zoetemelk, Peter Winnen, Marco Pantani, Lance Armstrong, Carlos Sastre, Thibaut Pinot either Geraint Thomas. Each era found its own story there.

Pantanione of the cyclists most associated with this mountain, described at the time the harshness of those roads: “The road was old, broken and narrow. Even so, I had to face it. I loved the mountain”.

The phrase fits with spirit of the new proposal. Sarenne It recovers a less predictable form of cycling, far from large accesses and perfectly prepared roads. An ascent in which the beauty of the landscape coexists with the discomfort and the suffering. It will not be the usual image of Alpe d’Huez, but it will be a different way of reaching the same mythical place.

The last trial before Paris

The combination of the two stages could be devastating for applicants general. On the first day, the classic climb will force the favorites to expose themselves in the 21 curves. The second, with hardly any time to recover, will have an even more difficult day. long and hard.

Whoever emerges weakened from first arrival will have to decide whether to risk from afar in the second. Whoever manages to defend their position will have to control a difficult stage to govern. And whoever conserves strength will be able to find in Sarenne the ideal terrain to launch the ultimate attack.

This sequence converts Alpe d’Huez into something more than a goal. During 48 hours will be the absolute center of the Tourthe place where victories will be shared, ambitions will be broken and possibly the owner of the yellow jersey. The first ascent will serve to meet the legend again. The second, to write a new one.

Alpe d’Huez It will continue to show its numbered curves, its crowds and its history. But he Tour It will also arrive on a road that for a long time was considered impossible. Seventy-four years after its debut in the race, the most famous mountain in cycling still has paths to discover.”