Saint-Etienne has a long cycling tradition. The city hosted Paris-Nice 58 times and Le Tour 23 times after yesterday’s stage.
Today it’s a departure town with riders heading out of town to climb the Col de la Croix de Montvieux (812 metres) after 26 kilometres.
After the descent it’s rolling terrain all the way to Grenoble. That’s tomorrow’s departure town but today they ride past the town. Just before Grenoble the first real ascent awaits them: Col de Palaquit (1154 metres). The climb starts with 64 kilometres still to race. The first 3 kilometres are tough, with average gradients of 10.5% in kilometres 2 and 3. The full Col de Palaquit is 14.1 kilometres with an average gradient of 6.1%.
On the other side of the mountain is Grenoble, 229 metres above sea level.
The riders have some time to catch their breath before the final part of the day, the climb to Chamroussel. The ski resort is situated at 1730 metres. The real ascent starts in Uriage-les-Bains, at 413 metres. The first 7 kilometers are the hardest with the total climb being 18.2 kilometres long with average gradients of 7.3%.
Tour de France 2014 stage 13: Images and more
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