Special envoy to Annemasse
The moment of truth may be approaching for the Tour de France, which has arrived at the foot of the Alps. The day after the climb to the Grand Colombier in which Tadej Pogacar lit the fuse against Jonas Vingegaard, the showdown between the two big favorites for the final victory continues with a once again compact stage but with no longer a but four major challenges to the program. Because once they have swallowed the affordable Col de Saxel (4.2 km at 4.6%), the peloton will chain three first category passes, the Col de Cou (7 km at 7.4%), the Col du Feu ( 5.8 km at 7.8%) and the Col de la Ramaz (13.9 km, 7.1%) before finishing with the very selective ascent of the Col de Joux Plane (11.6 km at 8, 6%) to complete 4200 vertical meters in total. Important detail, there are few or no plains between the difficulties with the exception of the section connecting the last two passes. The arrival in Morzine les Portes du Soleil will take place after a very long descent deemed to be technical. Good descenders will have a real advantage.
The fictitious start will be given at 1:05 p.m. The actual start will be given at 1:20 p.m. and the arrival is scheduled for around 5:33 p.m. with an average speed of 36 km/h.
France 3 from 12.55 p.m. then France 2 from 3 p.m.
“There may be an early breakaway but they will leave a lot of cartridges in their attempt and even with a three-minute lead at the bottom of the last climb, with the two motorcycles arriving behind (Vingegaard and Pogacar, editor’s note), they won’t will not be certain to go to the end. Positive point for the breakaways despite everything: there will be no time out or plain. The Col de la Ramaz will be hard but the Col de Joux Plane behind will be terrible. I do not forget the dangerous and very technical descent, especially since we arrive at the top of this ascent having lost our lucidity. We’ve already seen quite a few falls, so watch out! Hinley is not bad at the moment but without being original I will give a very small advantage to Pogacar in front of Vingegaard all the same.
Annemasse, which has seen the growth of several champions such as Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R-Citoën), ex-cyclist Jérôme Coppel and skier Tessa Worley, is only hosting the Tour de France for the second time in its history. The commune of Haute-Savoie is home to a center of contemporary art and the Château Rouge, a cultural center and stage of national interest.
Well known to skiers, the resort of Morzine is a regular at the passages of the Tour de France which has stopped 21 times. The city, which is also a delight for mountain bikers, where Jean Vuarnet, Olympic downhill champion at the 1960 Olympics, lived, offers several curiosities such as the Sainte-Marie-d’Aulps abbey or La Battante, reconstruction of a swing sawmill of the 19th century that worked thanks to the driving force of water.
In Annemasse, let yourself be tempted by the bognettes, these potato fritters that you can accompany if you are really hungry for longeole, a sausage flavored with fennel seeds. In Morzine, a cheese-based dish is essential around the abundance and the Tomme de Morzine.
Whoever leads the robbery opts for a very large development. Basically, your legs don’t turn fast on the bike and you’re forced to push very hard on the pedals to accelerate and reach full speed. The sprinters take the braquasse to the end of the stages.
Example: “In the final it’s a false downward flat, we all take the braquasse to the finish to compete in the sprint.”
