Albertville to Col du Granon Serre Chevalier

Stage 11 / Wednesday, July 13th

Stage 11 showcases a true high mountain stage featuring not one, but two HC climbs over the final 70km of the 151km route. Starting in Albertville, the course is relatively flat for the initial 46 km before the first test of the day on the Cat 2 Lacets de Montvernier. Though the first climb is short at only 3.4 km it is a steep 8.2% grade. This will be a sharp shock to the legs and a taste of the climbs yet to come. The remainder of the course is unrelenting as there is a false flat to the start of the Cat 1 Col du Telegraphe, which has an average grade of 7.1% over 11.9 km. After a short descent to Valloire, riders start to climb the HC Col du Galibier. This climb averages 6.9% but undulates between lower and steeper grades, with the last 2 km featuring sustained sections at over 10%. After a long 33 km descent, the GC contenders will be lined up to challenge what is arguably the most arduous climb of the tour up the Col du Granon to the finish. At 11.3 km, this climb averages 9.2%, but the steep sections are in in the last half of the climb up to the summit finish.

Weather Forecast

The course heads predominately south, and the current forecast calls for a slight headwind for most of the stage. Even with the low wind speeds, riders will most likely feel it throughout the day as the field is widdled down in the climbs. There has been a lot of talk about the high temps throughout France. Still, current forecasts in the mountains are manageable, and the favorites should not have any issues on the stage.

Stage Analysis

As we called it yesterday, the large break-a-way was the story of Stage 10, but Stage 11 belongs to the Yellow Jersey and GC contenders. Most teams would say that on paper this is the stage where the Tour de France truly starts. That said, this tour has featured a much more aggressive Yellow Jersey than in years past. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) will want to put a stamp on his third tour with a third stage win, but with another teammate out due to a positive covid test, this could be hard. So far, the only rider that has shown form to come close to matching Pogacar is Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), but Tadej does not give his rival anything and takes every opportunity to grab seconds when he can. This is a reason many are calling him a resurgence of "The Cannibal" Eddy Merckx. One hope for Jumbo-Visma and Ineos for the stage is that given the relentless HC climbs back to back, Pogacar might be without any teammates for the final climb, where Ineos-Grenadiers could have two or even three riders in Thomas, Yates, and Pidcock for the final charge up the Col du Granon.