The Tour de France faces high mountains before finishing the first week, with the arrival in Laruns, the first of two Pyrenean days with two major ports and the first of nine stages in 2020 by Slovenian Tadej Pogacar. In a raid that started last Saturday in Bilbao, the route had to face the Pyrenees early and do it less intensely through the Alps to keep the general’s excitement as much as possible.
But on this first day, cyclists of the 162.7km between Pau and Laruns beat the special category Soudet at 15.2km at 7.2% of the average slope and the first class Marie-Blanque at 7.6%. They will have to climb 0.7 kilometers. The summit is 18 kilometers from the finish line. Enough grounds for general classification candidates to start showing their fitness just five days after the start of the testWhile it’s not a question of wasting all your energy, because the next day in the port of Cauterets the first high-altitude target arrives.
The yellow jersey fight will begin to show its first signs in the very favorable terrain of Pogacar, who is accustomed to getting good results in that region. This is at a very similar stage to Wednesday, but with the climb to Soudet On the other hand, the Slovenian athlete achieved his first stage victory in 2020 before snatching the yellow jersey from his compatriot the penultimate day. Primoz Roglic and takes his first Tour.
The decisive climb will be Marie-Blanque’s climb, with the toughest ramps in the final section, a special bonus at the top, and a highly technical descent to the Laruns finish line. The start in Pau will also bring back good memories for Pogacar, who went to his second consecutive victory in 2021 and won a stage that started in that city and finished in Luz Ardiden.
Calendar
The stage will start at 13:25 and arrival is scheduled for 17:22.
Route
The route of the stage will go from Pau to Laruns. It will be 162.7 km.