It doesn't come much tougher than this - one Hors Categorie, four cat 1 cols and one cat 2 climb that adds up to 54km of climbing and an average gradient of 7.96% - that also adds up to plenty of pain! Riders will pass the monument to Fabio Casartelli, killed on the Col du Portet d'Aspet in 1995, where the peloton will most likely slow down to pay its respects as it rides past. It's then on to the Col de Mente, Portillon, Peyresourde, Val-Louron Azet before finishing up Lat-d'Adet in St-Lary - Soulan. The climbs are evenly spaced out, and it's pretty clear to see what everyone is in for - plenty of mountains that don't necessarily reach great heights, but do so very quickly.
Stage 15 will probably serve as the ultimate selection day, and look for Armstrong, Ullrich, Basso, and maybe Rasmussen to fight it out for the stage and GC honours.
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UCI Gravel World Series – Romain Bardet and Erica Magnaldi sweep up solo victories after attacking on the climbs of Monsterrando Gravel
Nicole Frain and Petr Vakoč come second from among packed field of core Italian qualifier -
Mathieu van der Poel shifts focus to mountain bike with Les Gets a tune-up for MTB World Championships
Dutchman finishes second overall in the Renewi Tour -
Deutschland Tour: Søren Wærenskjold seals overall victory
Matthew Brennan powers to stage win in crash-marred finale -
As it happened: Bunch sprint on summit finish sees GC contenders come to the fore
The peloton heads into the Alps on the second stage of the race for a summit finish at Limone Piemonte
