The fact that Colombian climbing legend Lucho Herrera won a very similar stage to this back in 1985 underlines the importance of this stage to the yellow jersey contenders. As the popular old adage goes, it’ll be one of those days they can’t win the Tour but can definitely lose it.
The main difficulty is the Ramaz, the first cat one ascent of the race and one only used once before, back in 2003 when Richard Virenque led the race over it and won in Morzine. The climb to Avoriaz is not super hard, but as a high summit finish it can be counted on to split the main contenders to some extent as those with the legs and those without are sorted out.
Stage profile
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Early launches secure Cameron Jones and Sofía Gómez Villafañe wins at Little Sugar MTB
Villafañe locks in Life Time Grand Prix series lead with win in second last round while men's competition tightens as current leader Keegan Swenson finishes tenth -
Perplexing tactics, questionable wildcards and Classics revisited - A cavalcade of conclusions from 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships
Some debates continue as the top gravel and road pros provide feedback from the Netherlands -
'I tried to catch everyone, but I couldn't' - How a 40-year-old lawyer beat Tadej Pogačar in his own challenge
Handicapped hill climb doesn't work out for the reigning world champion -
Francisco Mancebo, the oldest rider to win a pro race, finally retires at 49
Spaniard ends career that started over 27 years ago
