Discover the program for the 12th stage of the Tour de France, which will take the riders from Briançon to Alpe d’Huez, with three hors category passes on the menu.
After this Wednesday’s exceptional stage, marked by the failure of the yellow jersey in the Col du Granon, what will happen to the 12th stage of the Tour de France, the queen stage of the crossing of the Alps? On this July 14, a necessarily special day on the Grande Boucle, the show promises to be there, between Briançon and Alpe d’Huez. While the riders took to the roads of Granon for the first time since 1986, the day Bernard Hinault wore the yellow jersey for the last time in his career, the organizers of the Tour have this time decided to trace the same route as the day after this famous stage of 1986, that of July 21 where Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond arrived hand in hand.
Finally a first French victory?
After the departure from Briançon, at an altitude of 1337m, the peloton will immediately climb, towards the Col du Galibier, and its 2642m (23km ascent at 5.1% average), via the Lautaret, then they will descend towards St-Jean-de-Maurienne, via the Telegraph which they climbed on Wednesday. After this long descent, place at the Col de la Croix de Fer, and its 2067m of altitude (29km of ascent at 5.2% average). Then after descending towards Allemond, the runners will climb one last time, towards Alpe d’Huez, and its 21 mythical hairpin bends (13.8km of ascent at 8.1%). The actual departure will be given at 1:20 p.m. and the arrival is scheduled between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. A first French victory in the Tour 2022 on July 14 would obviously be a great moment.
Christian Prudhomme’s comment: “The nod to history joins here the desire to close the battle of the Alps on a route cut for the sharpest climbers. This is the exact replica of the 1986 Briançon-Alpe d’Huez, with a new ascent of the Galibier on the program, then the climb to the Col de la Croix de Fer, before explaining the 21 bends leading to the Isère station. An intermediate assessment will be necessary at this stage of the game. »