Gallery: Pyrenean panorama

It is the Circle of Death - 6882 metres of climbing on the hardest day of the Tour de France in the mighty Pyrenees.

Where life can be breathed into general classification hopes, but also where they flounder in a painful end.

Stage 16 of the 99th's edition of the Tour linked the the Col d'Aubisque, Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin and Col de Peyresourde. It's a rareity, when you consider the last time that the fearsome quartet were combined was in 1998. Prior to that in 1938, 1949, 1980 and 1983.

Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) reigned supreme, Sky's Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome fought off the attacks of Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and Cadel Evans officially said goodbye to any hopes he had of making the podium in the year of his title defence. Plenty of others just did their best to survive knowing there's only four more days until Paris.

Both beautiful and savage, we celebrate the Circle of Death. Click here for the gallery.

 

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