Tour de France 2017 Route stage 8: Dole

Tour de France 2017 Route stage 8: Dole - Station des Rousses

Saturday, 8 July 2017 - At 187.5 kilometres, stage 8 in the Tour de France travels from Dole to Station des Rousses. The race takes in three cols in the Jura mountains . Following an 11.7 kilometres climb at 6.4% the last 11 kilometres are played out on rolling roads.

The first 28 kilometres of stage 8 are the quiet before the storm. Then, starting in the village Arbois, the road goes up and down until the dyings metres of the race. Yet, the first real climb looms with 95 kilometres done. The Col de la Joux, peaking at 1,035 metres, is a 6.1 kilometres ascent with an average gradient of 4.6%.

A long drop takes the riders to the foot of the Côte de Viry. This is a 7.6 kilometres climb at 5.2%, that’s crested at kilometre 138.5 in the saddle.

Following a hilly section the pilots plunge down to Saint-Claude for the start of the finale. The last climb is called Montee de la Combe de Laisia Les Molunes, which is not only a long name, it’s a long ascent, too. Not the toughest t you can think of though. The Montee de la Combe de Laisia Les Molunes amounts to 11.7 kilometres, while the slope is averaging 6.4%. The summit lies at an elevation of 1,202 metres.

Still 11 kilometres left to race, in which to descend to 1,107 metres. So that’s not a descent at all. A rolling section runs to the finish line in the ski station of Les Rousses, close to the Swiss border.

In the Tour de France of 2010, Sylvain Chavanel soloed to victory in Station des Rousses.

The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds.