The middle stages of the 2010 Tour de France, between the two rest days, are leg-beating, heart-wrenching, lung-ripping, and surely exciting for all of us who don’t have to ride them.
These eight stages are the toughest in the Tour, not the least because they are back-to-back. Starting in the Alps and ending in the Pyrenees, these stages should decide who will wear yellow in Paris.
Stage 9, 204.5 km from Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne,is an interesting stage in that is has three heartbreaking climbs and a couple of dangerous descents, which could allow slower climbers to catch up.
The real climbing starts with the Cat 1 Col de la Colombière 25 km into the stage, followed in quick succession by the Cat 2 Col des Aravis and the Cat 1 Col des Saisies. These three climbs could crack a lot of riders, particularly those that didn’t ride enough on the rest day.
The first 97 km of Stage 9 are brutal, but after that there is the long descent down Col des Aravis followed by 15 km of flat road—a chance for riders to catch up and recover, before hitting the real monster, the Hors Category Col de la Madeleine.
