The Tour de France peloton will tackle the Grand Colombier on Friday during the 13th stage where French climbers will want to shine on National Day. It is one of the four altitude finishes of this 110th edition at the end of a very short stage, only 137.8 km, starting from Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne which will take the runners to the summit (1,501 m) of the Jura massif in Ain.
The route of the 13th stage
Credit: official Tour de France website
The Grand Colombier, one of the most difficult passes in France
Classified as hors category, the Grand Colombier is one of the most difficult passes in France with a climb of 17.4 km at an average of 7.1%. It has already been taken several times by the Grande Boucle, but there has been only one arrival at the top so far, in 2020. Tadej Pogacar had won his second stage in the Tour de France there, before pocketing the victory final a few days later in Paris. Behind, Egan Bernal, then defending champion, had experienced an ordeal, yielding more than seven minutes in the ascent.
That year, the Grand Colombier, nicknamed “the pyramid of Bugey”, had been preceded by the Selle de Fromentel and the Col de la Biche, while this time the approach will be much gentler. “We are going to do something a bit like July 14: explosive. A steep climb of the Grand Colombier with no difficulty up front. It will be a hill climb where everyone must be able to let go of the watts”, explains the course architect, Thierry Gouvenou, to AFP. The occasion obviously for a new explanation between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, on the eve of the first alpine stage towards Morzine.
The French in the spotlight
The French will be particularly interested in the stage one day on July 14. Climbers like David Gaudu, Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot or Guillaume Martin have marked this day on their agenda for a long time, hoping to have good legs. “Yes it will interest the French but it will be of a very high level, it may go up very very quickly”, warns Thierry Gouvenou. Winner on July 14, 2017 in Foix, Warren Barguil, who will also be in the running, remains the last French rider to have raised his arms on a national holiday on the Tour.
Departure from Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne at 1.45 p.m. (launched at 1.55 p.m.), arrival at the Grand Colombier at 5.22 p.m. (timetable calculated on an average of 40 km/h)