TDF 2022:- Stage 18: Lourdes - Hautacam, 143.2Km ***Spoilers***
blazing_saddles
Posts: 21,534
Stage 18: Lourdes - Hautacam, 143.2Km *****
Start Time: 13-30CET.
The last high altitude test of the Tour de France is a 143.2 kilometres raced from Lourdes to Hautacam. With the introduction of the much-feared Col de Spandelles between the legendary Col d’Aubisque and the always-decisive finishing climb to Hautacam, it’s a climb combination never before seen in the Tour. This stage has been ranked with the highest degree of difficulty.
All of these come after an initial and usual 60kms of virtually flat roads.
Until Laruns it’s a long flat road, once again an hilly/uphill start is missing to give the pure climbers a chance to enter the break with raw power. Then it will be time for the Aubisque, a really hard ascent with 17,1 km at 7%, but the last 10 km rise up with an average gradient of 8,3%.
When the Spandelles was used at the lesser-known Route du Sud 10 years ago, Colombian climber Nairo Quintana broke clear on the Spandelles and soloed to victory.
Extremely narrow, with rough pavement, 20 turns and frequent double-digit pitches, the 10.3-kilometer Spandelles was thought to be impassable for Le Tour, but the regional highways department has done work on it to make the descent safer.
Then it will be time for Hautacam, 13,2 km at 8%. The second half is the hardest part with kilometres 8, 9 and 11 standing out – respectively with gradients at 10.3%, 11.3%, and 10.4%.
The Climbs:
Aubisque pass (1,709 m)
The Aubisque is one of the classic passes of the Tour de France, which has been climbed by the peloton on 73 occasions in the past. Two stages ended at the summit, in 1985 and 2010. It is 16.6km long with a percentage of 7.5 pc and peaks at 13 pc after Eaux-Bonnes. On the Tour’s last visit, in 2018, it was Rafal Majka who was at the front.
Spandelles pass (1,378 m)
The Spandelles pass is a first-time feature of the Tour de France, but it is not unknown to the riders. In 2012, on the Route du Sud, Nairo Quintana led the way to the summit and the pass caused a lot of damage. Thomas Voeckler in particular was forced to put his foot down halfway up the climb.
Final Kms.
The ascent to ski resort Hautacam is a scenic one-way climb. The length is 13.6 kilometres and the average gradient sits at 7.8%.
It’s the sixth time the Hautacam ascent is included in the Tour de France. Luc Leblanc won in 1994, Bjarne Riis in 1996 , Javier Otxoa in 2000, Juan José Cobo in 2008, and in 2014 Vincenzo Nibali took the win. With the exception of Otxoa and Nibali all these riders were affiliated with doping at some point in their career.
What to Expect.
It's getting very repetitive, but yet another endless (and mostly fruitless) battle to get into the breakaway, but the deadwood will be cut almost immediately, by the ascent of the Aubisque, meaning that the lead group will feature solely strong climbers. Which in turn makes it more likely that the winner will come from the breakaway.
It's also likely for the last mountain stage to be a huge battle among podium contenders. If the time bonuses at the line could change the final GC order, we would likely see a clash on the finish climb, with the winner coming from the select GC group.
Take your pick.
Lourdes
Population: 14 361
Specialities: spit-roasted cake, Bigorre black pork, Pailhasson chocolates, Malespine sweets, Pyrenean cheese, garbure, Tarbais beans
LOURDES AND CYCLING
The city of 5 million visitors per year, the third most important pilgrimage site in Catholicism, also receives the Tour's peloton on a more occasional basis.
It was only in 1948 that a finishing line was drawn in Lourdes for the victory of Gino "the Pious" Bartali. On that day, the national hero of Italian cycling, who, along with Fausto Coppi, was responsible for boosting the morale of his country, took his winning bouquet to the grotto and attributed his miraculous victory in the Tour, ten years after the first, to Our Lady of Lourdes. Afterwards, he would return to the shrine each time he visited the region. Other stages were held in the hills, in the nearby resort of Hautacam, but in 2011, the victory in the town went to Thor Hushovd, who was wearing the world champion's jersey at the time. In 2018, the square in front of the basilica was used as a starting area for the penultimate stage of this edition, won with mastery in Laruns by Primoz Roglic, who came out of a strong group in the final. At the finish, the Slovenian rider, who wasn't yet considered as a potential Tour winner, took his second stage win after the one he had won the year before in Serre-Chevalier.
Malespine sweets
Km 57.7
Laruns (Pop: 1,200)
Laruns has somehow turned into the cycling capital of Slovenia, since the 2020 Tour, when Tadej Pogacar won a stage in town ahead of his compatriot Primoz Roglic. Roglic, who had already won in the cheese city in 2018, took the Yellow Jersey that was thought to be definitive. Wrongly so.
Laruns cheese
Traditionally, the Laruns Cheese Fair takes place on the first weekend of October, accompanied by its old-style market and various events. The village is then dressed in its festive clothes for the occasion to revive the traditions: straw on the ground, old crafts, costumes, traditional dances and songs, chicken in the pot in the restaurants. Of course, you can taste laruns, a cheese produced from sheep's milk in the Ossau valley, which is also included in the Ossau-iraty production area.
Hautacam
Population: 420
Specialities: garbure bigourdane, rocher des Pyrénées (cake), Black pork of Bigorre.
HAUTACAM AND CYCLING
Five stages of the Tour finished at the top of the long climb to the resort overlooking Lourdes. Luc Leblanc was the first rider to put his name to it in 1994, just before winning the world champion title in Sicily. Hautacam also marked a turning point in Cadel Evans' career in 2008: he took the lead in the overall classification of the Tour for the first time... with a one second lead over Fränk Schleck. This first experience in yellow only lasted five days for the Australian, who was weakened by an injury and had to give up the Yellow Jersey for eight seconds on the climb to Prato Nevoso. In the end, he finished second in this edition, 58 seconds behind Carlos Sastre. Cadel Evans later held the Yellow Jersey in 2010, for one day, and finally in 2011 to become the first Australian winner in Paris. In 2014, it was in Hautacam that Vincenzo Nibali completed his domination by taking his fourth stage victory of the edition at the summit, 1:10 ahead of Thibaut Pinot. In the overall classification, the shark from Messina had a 7:10 advantage on the Frenchman with three days to go before the Champs-Élysées: the case was heard.
garbure
This is the traditional soup in Bigorre. Made from cabbage and beans, it is simmered with confit or "camayou", a local ham bone. You can find it in many restaurants in the area and especially at the Auberge de l'Arrioutou, the Hautacam restaurant which has made it a speciality.
At the beginning of June, you should not miss the Confrérie de la Garbure in Argelès-Gazost, the traditional celebration of the typical Bigorre dish: mass led by the Ariélès Singers, parade of the brotherhoods of the south-west, inductions, market and garbure meal.
Start Time: 13-30CET.
The last high altitude test of the Tour de France is a 143.2 kilometres raced from Lourdes to Hautacam. With the introduction of the much-feared Col de Spandelles between the legendary Col d’Aubisque and the always-decisive finishing climb to Hautacam, it’s a climb combination never before seen in the Tour. This stage has been ranked with the highest degree of difficulty.
All of these come after an initial and usual 60kms of virtually flat roads.
Until Laruns it’s a long flat road, once again an hilly/uphill start is missing to give the pure climbers a chance to enter the break with raw power. Then it will be time for the Aubisque, a really hard ascent with 17,1 km at 7%, but the last 10 km rise up with an average gradient of 8,3%.
When the Spandelles was used at the lesser-known Route du Sud 10 years ago, Colombian climber Nairo Quintana broke clear on the Spandelles and soloed to victory.
Extremely narrow, with rough pavement, 20 turns and frequent double-digit pitches, the 10.3-kilometer Spandelles was thought to be impassable for Le Tour, but the regional highways department has done work on it to make the descent safer.
Then it will be time for Hautacam, 13,2 km at 8%. The second half is the hardest part with kilometres 8, 9 and 11 standing out – respectively with gradients at 10.3%, 11.3%, and 10.4%.
The Climbs:
Aubisque pass (1,709 m)
The Aubisque is one of the classic passes of the Tour de France, which has been climbed by the peloton on 73 occasions in the past. Two stages ended at the summit, in 1985 and 2010. It is 16.6km long with a percentage of 7.5 pc and peaks at 13 pc after Eaux-Bonnes. On the Tour’s last visit, in 2018, it was Rafal Majka who was at the front.
Spandelles pass (1,378 m)
The Spandelles pass is a first-time feature of the Tour de France, but it is not unknown to the riders. In 2012, on the Route du Sud, Nairo Quintana led the way to the summit and the pass caused a lot of damage. Thomas Voeckler in particular was forced to put his foot down halfway up the climb.
Final Kms.
The ascent to ski resort Hautacam is a scenic one-way climb. The length is 13.6 kilometres and the average gradient sits at 7.8%.
It’s the sixth time the Hautacam ascent is included in the Tour de France. Luc Leblanc won in 1994, Bjarne Riis in 1996 , Javier Otxoa in 2000, Juan José Cobo in 2008, and in 2014 Vincenzo Nibali took the win. With the exception of Otxoa and Nibali all these riders were affiliated with doping at some point in their career.
What to Expect.
It's getting very repetitive, but yet another endless (and mostly fruitless) battle to get into the breakaway, but the deadwood will be cut almost immediately, by the ascent of the Aubisque, meaning that the lead group will feature solely strong climbers. Which in turn makes it more likely that the winner will come from the breakaway.
It's also likely for the last mountain stage to be a huge battle among podium contenders. If the time bonuses at the line could change the final GC order, we would likely see a clash on the finish climb, with the winner coming from the select GC group.
Take your pick.
Lourdes
Population: 14 361
Specialities: spit-roasted cake, Bigorre black pork, Pailhasson chocolates, Malespine sweets, Pyrenean cheese, garbure, Tarbais beans
LOURDES AND CYCLING
The city of 5 million visitors per year, the third most important pilgrimage site in Catholicism, also receives the Tour's peloton on a more occasional basis.
It was only in 1948 that a finishing line was drawn in Lourdes for the victory of Gino "the Pious" Bartali. On that day, the national hero of Italian cycling, who, along with Fausto Coppi, was responsible for boosting the morale of his country, took his winning bouquet to the grotto and attributed his miraculous victory in the Tour, ten years after the first, to Our Lady of Lourdes. Afterwards, he would return to the shrine each time he visited the region. Other stages were held in the hills, in the nearby resort of Hautacam, but in 2011, the victory in the town went to Thor Hushovd, who was wearing the world champion's jersey at the time. In 2018, the square in front of the basilica was used as a starting area for the penultimate stage of this edition, won with mastery in Laruns by Primoz Roglic, who came out of a strong group in the final. At the finish, the Slovenian rider, who wasn't yet considered as a potential Tour winner, took his second stage win after the one he had won the year before in Serre-Chevalier.
Malespine sweets
Km 57.7
Laruns (Pop: 1,200)
Laruns has somehow turned into the cycling capital of Slovenia, since the 2020 Tour, when Tadej Pogacar won a stage in town ahead of his compatriot Primoz Roglic. Roglic, who had already won in the cheese city in 2018, took the Yellow Jersey that was thought to be definitive. Wrongly so.
Laruns cheese
Traditionally, the Laruns Cheese Fair takes place on the first weekend of October, accompanied by its old-style market and various events. The village is then dressed in its festive clothes for the occasion to revive the traditions: straw on the ground, old crafts, costumes, traditional dances and songs, chicken in the pot in the restaurants. Of course, you can taste laruns, a cheese produced from sheep's milk in the Ossau valley, which is also included in the Ossau-iraty production area.
Hautacam
Population: 420
Specialities: garbure bigourdane, rocher des Pyrénées (cake), Black pork of Bigorre.
HAUTACAM AND CYCLING
Five stages of the Tour finished at the top of the long climb to the resort overlooking Lourdes. Luc Leblanc was the first rider to put his name to it in 1994, just before winning the world champion title in Sicily. Hautacam also marked a turning point in Cadel Evans' career in 2008: he took the lead in the overall classification of the Tour for the first time... with a one second lead over Fränk Schleck. This first experience in yellow only lasted five days for the Australian, who was weakened by an injury and had to give up the Yellow Jersey for eight seconds on the climb to Prato Nevoso. In the end, he finished second in this edition, 58 seconds behind Carlos Sastre. Cadel Evans later held the Yellow Jersey in 2010, for one day, and finally in 2011 to become the first Australian winner in Paris. In 2014, it was in Hautacam that Vincenzo Nibali completed his domination by taking his fourth stage victory of the edition at the summit, 1:10 ahead of Thibaut Pinot. In the overall classification, the shark from Messina had a 7:10 advantage on the Frenchman with three days to go before the Champs-Élysées: the case was heard.
garbure
This is the traditional soup in Bigorre. Made from cabbage and beans, it is simmered with confit or "camayou", a local ham bone. You can find it in many restaurants in the area and especially at the Auberge de l'Arrioutou, the Hautacam restaurant which has made it a speciality.
At the beginning of June, you should not miss the Confrérie de la Garbure in Argelès-Gazost, the traditional celebration of the typical Bigorre dish: mass led by the Ariélès Singers, parade of the brotherhoods of the south-west, inductions, market and garbure meal.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
2
Posts
- @ddraver
I don't know why, but I don't think this is yet over - Jonas has looked reasonably comfortable with Pog's attacks, but it only needs one to stick.
Obviously this is just wishful thinking but looking at Pog when he crossed the line it seems equally as likely as him successfully going on the attack unless that was more of his acting skills.
:P
- @ddraver
For the record, Vingegaard wasn't born when Riis did this.
Also for the record, when I was young and naive I really liked his attack. It had a touch of the Fignon about it, the slip back and check the competition out before going.
@DrHeadgear
The Vikings are coming!
*it is, of course, entirely correct *
@DrHeadgear
The Vikings are coming!
Nowadays they just don’t look as fast even when they are
(works out ok for me though as I'm home for this one)
- @ddraver
- @ddraver
@DrHeadgear
The Vikings are coming!