Tour de France 2022 Route stage 7: Tomblaine - La Planche des Belles Filles

Friday 8 July - At 176 kilometres, the 7th stage of the Tour de France travels from Tomblaine to a summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles. The last kilometre is unpaved.

It has been ten years since La Planche des Belles Filles first featured on the Tour de France. That stage also started in Tomblaine. Chris Froome turned out on top, finishing 2 seconds ahead of his then leader Bradley Wiggins.

Since then, La Planche des Belle Filles was included four times. So it would be the sixth stage finish in eleven years time in 2022. After Froome’s triumph, the climb also saw stage victories by Vincenzo Nibali (2014), Fabio Aru (2017), Dylan Teuns (2019), and Tadej Pogacar (2020). That last race was the dramatic uphill time trial on the penultimate day of action, in which Tadej Pogacar snatched the overall title from Primoz Roglic.

In most editions La Planche des Belles Filles was a climb of 5.9 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.5%. Yet, the 2019 edition featured an extra and unpaved section of 1 kilometre. This way, the ascent amounted to 7 kilometres at 8.7%.

The unpaved sector after the original climb will return in 2022. The last 100 metres are on tarmac though. Beginning with a energy-sapping ramp at 24%, the final kick up is too steep for gravel.