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“Saturday, 15 July The 14th stage of the Tour de France starts in Annemasse and ends in Morzine. Over a distance of 152.4 kilometres, the riders come across the Col de Saxel, the Col de Cou, the Col du Feu, the Col de la Ramaz and the Col de Joux Plane, after which the finale is downhill. The descent from Joux Plane is very technical. The last time a Tour stage ended in Morzine was in 2016, when the Col de Joux Plane was the final climb. On the 11.6 kilometre climb with 8.5%, Jarlinson Pantano, Vincenzo Nibali and Ion Izagirre were the first to reach the summit. All three were good descenders. It was dog weather that day and Izagirre was willing to take the most risk. He won the stage by 19 seconds over Pantano, while Nibali crossed the finish line another 23 seconds later. This year the same finale is coming up and let's hope that the descent from the Joux Plain can be taken in full because it is dry. Apart from the Joux Plane, there are four other official climbs and one unofficial climb on the programme. One after the other, the riders will go up the Col de Saxel (4.2 kilometres at 4.6%), the Col de Cou (7 kilometres at 7.4%), the Col du Feu (5.8 kilometres at 7.8%) and the Col de Jambaz (6.8 kilometres at 3.8%) before tackling the Col de la Ramaz 64 kilometres from the finish. This is a 13.9 kilometre climb at 7.1% and after about 10 kilometres in the valley, the Joux Plan awaits the riders. This is especially tricky in the second half with gradients of 9% or more. At the top, it's a good 3 kilometres to the descent and then it's time for the technical descent to Morzine. Should a group come down, riders with fast legs will obviously have an advantage. They should then be aware that the road climbs very slightly in the last few hundred metres. With his victory in 2016, Izagirre joined a list of big names like Pantani, Virenque (twice) and Sastre. Once a Dutchman won in Morzine: Peter Winnen in 1982.“ ( & Routes 'n' Maps 'n' Flags) Creating cycling stage animations requires a lot of work and computing power. You are welcome to support me with a donation:
