Tour de France 2021 Route stage 8: Oyonnax

Tour de France 2021 Route stage 8: Oyonnax - Le-Grand-Bornand

Saturday 3 July - The 8th stage of the Tour de France is a race of 151 kilometres with a mountainous last third. The riders traverse the three Alpine climbs before the finale is a long descent Le-Grand-Bornand.

Oyonnax is situated in the foothills of the Jura mountains. Seven years ago the Tour de France was here for the first and last time when Tony Gallopin soloed to victory, although with the tiniest of margins – 10 metres – ahead of the chasing peloton.

The first 100 kilometres are fairly straightforward. Not flat, not too demanding either. Things start to look different when the riders tackle the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex shortly after Bonneville. The 5.7 kilometres ascent averages 8.3%.

Almost immediately after the descent the big test of the day appears. Or should we say, two tests? Between the summit of the Col de Romme and the base Col de la Colombière is a downhill section of 5.5 kilometres, so one could argue it’s one huge climb.

The Romme amounts to 8.8 kilometres at 8.9%, while the Colombière is 7.5 kilometres long and averages 8.5%. The climb gets steeper near the summit, where the first three riders gain time bonuses of 8, 5 and 2 seconds.

The last part of the race – including the Col de Romme/Col de la Colombière combo – was included in the 2018 stage to Le-Grand-Bornand. That day, Julian Alaphilippe launched one of his raids. He crested both peaks to win the race 1.34 minutes ahead of the first chaser, Ion Izagirre.