The final two climbs are in the highest HC classification and can play a key role in the fight for the yellow jersey. After the exciting stage on Tuesday, he was defended by Tadej Pogačar, attacking for a winning hat-trick on the Tour, but his lead over the German Lennard Kämna shrunk to 11 seconds.
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After the start at the venue of the 1992 Winter Olympics, the peloton will cover a 46 km flat section, but then the competitors will have only hard work to do. The first test will be a category 2 ascent of eighteen picturesque switchbacks along the Montvernier rock cliff with a length of almost 3.5 km with an average gradient of 8.2%.
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Profile 11. etapy Tour de France.Photo: letour.com
Immediately, the peloton starts to climb the “one-of-a-kind” Col du Télégraphe (11.9 km at 7.1%) and after a short rest descent, the riders start to climb the legendary Col du Galibier. The top-category hill is reached by an almost 18-kilometer climb with an average of 6.9 % and the peloton will find itself at its peak at the highest altitude ever in this year’s Tour – 2642 m.
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Acidified muscles will then get a moment of respite on the 33km descent towards Briancon, but just before the starting point of Thursday’s stage, the peloton turns left to face more than eleven kilometers of climbing to the 2413m high Col du Granon. The brutal hill with an average gradient of over nine percent represents the most difficult climb of this year’s Tour and promises an exciting battle between serious contenders for the yellow jersey.
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In addition, the competitors will not get a chance to rest, and the peloton will face the toughest test of this year’s Tour on Thursday. The twelfth stage with a length of 170 km will start in Briancon and the riders will have to climb three hills in the most difficult HC classification: Col du Galibier, Col de la Croix de Fer and finally the iconic serpentine to Alpe d’Huez.
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