Tour de France: profile, times, forecast and places to see for the 12th stage


Everything you need to know about the race and its perks with the twelfth stage between Briançon and a legend of the Tour de France, Alpe d’Huez.

Special envoy to Briançon

Profile of the stage: Briançon-Alpe d’Huez (165.1 km)

The exit from the Alps promises to be grandiose with a mythical stage ending with the climb of Alpe d’Huez (13.8 km at 8.1%). Before this firework of emotions in the hairpin bends, the peloton will have swallowed two out-of-category passes, the Galibier (23 km at 5.1%), perhaps the least formidable difficulty of the day, then the Col de la Croix-de-fer (29 km at 5.2%), which comes after a long descent allowing the peloton to breathe a little. The sequence of these two essential meetings of the Grande Boucle risks weighing on the legs before the laces of Alpe d’Huez. You will have noticed that this queen stage of the 2022 edition takes place on July 14, National Day. Enough to give ideas to French runners who are still waiting for their first success this summer.

Briancon-Alpe d’Huez (165.1 km) ASO

Schedules:

The actual start is set at 1:20 p.m. and the estimated arrival at 6:08 p.m. with an average speed of 38 km/h.

TV broadcast:

France 3 from 12.55 p.m. then France 2 at 3 p.m.

The prognosis of… Charly Mottet (former rider, winner of three stages of the Tour de France)

“I think there will be two races in this stage with the Jumbo-Visma first looking to defend the jersey and they have the means to do so, unless Tadej Pogacar manages to get the cherry. But I think that for the stage victory, it will be very open with a breakaway that can go to the end and in this breakaway I can see Thibaut Pinot well.

Not to be missed on the course:

A must in Briançon, home of double Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing Richard Jouve and Pierre Vaultier, double Olympic champion in snowboarding, the Vauban fortifications dating from the 18th century and listed as World Heritage by Unesco. The climb to Alpe d’Huez is a monument of world sport but at the top, you can visit the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges church built in 1970. Why? Because it was made from simple materials like concrete, copper and translucent glass). The decoration is signed Arcabas, a renowned painter and sculptor who signs extremely original and audacious works in churches.

The interior of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges church. DR

The specialty to get your teeth into:

Those with a good fork will go for a pie and cabbage sausages or Tourtons du Champsaur (doughnuts stuffed with mashed potatoes and fried in oil). In Alpe d’Huez, opt for a caillette (meat steak) accompanied by stuffed Oisans (grated potatoes with bacon bits and vegetables). In the evening, a small glass of genepi in hand is a must to observe the grandiose panorama of the ski resort of the Grandes Rousses massif.

Expression of the day: “Peck from the wing”

We are getting into the jargon of cunning and cheating. For a rider, it’s about taking advantage of the presence of an assistance car to lean on and get going again when he’s in trouble.

Ex: “The next time I see him pecking on the wing on a climb, I kick him out!”

The mythical climbs of the Tour de France

Go to slideshow (10)

SEE ALSO – Behind the scenes of Paul Pogba’s return to Juventus Turin



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