The Tour has reached Eastern France after a series of flat stages, and therefore, it is time for some hills again. We're in the region of the Vosges mountains with three small but difficult climbs to master: the Col de la Schlucht (8.9 km at 4.1 percent), the Col du Platzerwasel (8.7 km at 7.6 percent) and the Col du Firstplan (8.4 km at 5.4 percent).
These look harmless on paper, but could reveal themselves as treacherous for the general classification contenders - remember when Lance Armstrong got isolated from his teammates back in the 2005 Tour's stage 8? That was on the Col de la Schlucht.
TOPICS
-
Tadej Pogačar reveals three fractured vertebrae after Vuelta crash: “I’m just happy to be alive”
Slovenian superstar tells The Athletic the full extent of his injuries after discovering two additional spinal fractures weeks after his crash -
'They’ve destroyed cycling' - Bardiani-CSF-7 Saber boss gives scathing assessment of the UCI after Italian team unable to race Giro d’Italia in 2027
Long-standing ProTeam could fold in the coming years due to UCI regulations, says Bruno Reverberi -
'It really feels like a victory' - Belgian cyclo-cross champion returns to training following surgery for cardiac arrhythmias
Former under-23 World Champion Marion Norbert Riberolle's race return dates unconfirmed -
'I still need some time to analyse what I really want' - Tadej Pogačar to return to the UAE Tour, but 2027 race calendar still undecided with Tour de France the main target
UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider likely to head to the Classics again
