Fight for Yellow in the Pyrenees: Preview on Stage 14

The mountains are calling! On Saturday and Sunday, the Pyrenean passes will host the battle for the Yellow Jersey and the top spots in the overall classification. The action starts with the 151.9-kilometer stage from Pau to Pla d’Adet, the first mountain finish of this Tour. Along the way to the nearly eleven-kilometer final climb, the riders will conquer the mythical Col du Tourmalet and the Hourquette d’Ancizan.

Stage 14 | 13 July | Pau to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet | 151.9 km | 4,000 m elevation gain

It has been a week and a half since the riders were last in the high mountains during this Tour. Back then, the peloton rode through the Alps, and now they head into the Pyrenees – with the Col du Tourmalet being just as mythical as the Galibier in the Alps. This stage presents the first major test for the riders. After starting in Pau, the first 70 kilometers gently ascend to the sprint point in Esquièze-Sère.

2 Hors-Category Climbs

Shortly after, the 19-kilometer climb to the highest point of this stage – the 2,115-meter-high Col du Tourmalet – begins. With an average gradient of 7.4 percent, the road winds up to the summit from the west. While the forest provides shade at the beginning, the last seven kilometers pass through a barren mountain landscape. The first rider to reach the top of this Hors Categorie climb will win the Souvenir Jacques Goddet.

The descent passes through the winter sports resort of La Mongie and several galleries down to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan – past the statue of the racer Eugène Christophe. Via Payolle, the peloton heads to the second climb of the day. The stage climbs 8.2 kilometers at an average gradient of 5.1 percent to the Hourquette d’Ancizan.

This northwestern ascent is very irregular and has several flat sections. From this category-2 climb, a ten-kilometer descent leads down to Guchan. Just six kilometers after Saint-Lary-Soulan, the final climb to Pla d’Adet begins – a Hors Categorie mountain.

Via Soulan, the 10.6-kilometer road climbs at an average gradient of 7.1 percent to 1,669 meters. The first three kilometers are the toughest, with gradients consistently between 9 and nearly 12 percent. Later sections include short ramps with gradients up to 12 percent.