2010 Tour de France stage eight preview
In 1985, Colombian climbing legend Lucho Herrera won a stage very similar to this. For the yellow jersey contenders, they understand the importance of the eighth stage of the 2010 Tour de France. It’s not a day to win the Tour, but it is a day to lose it.
Stage eight is where the Tour enters the alps. After a medium-climb stage seven and flat stage six, the results of this day could reshape this year’s tour results as we know them. With a summit finish, the general classification riders are definitely going be on the offensive even if the gaps are small.
The last time a stage has finished at the Avoriaz was in 1994, when Latvian Piotr Ugrumov and finished the Tour in second place. This could be Alberto Contador’s chance to take the yellow jersey, though for how long?
This is a must-see stage of the Tour. It begins by weaving through the Jura mountains, keeping pretty level until a long downhill section into the Vallée de la Valserine. Not too steep, but fast and straight to get the race moving. The route will then follow the Swiss border en route to the Alps.
At the village of Mieussy, the contenders will make the 14 km climb of the Col de la Ramaz, on a road that has been shut down for two years due to a cliff near the top, bypassed in favour of a tunnel system. The only prior appearance of the Col de la Ramaz in the Tour de France was in 2003, when Richard Virenque won the stage and the yellow jersey. The summit is at Praz-de-Lys, followed by a steep, eight km descent down through sharp hairpin turns.
The next climb, a third category at Col des Gets, won’t cause any problems, it’s only four km through a scenic gorge. But from there’s comes the fast descent to Morzine, then the climb to Avoriaz, both part one of the largest connected ski domains in the world.
This is the seventh appearance of the 14km climb to the summit of the Avoriaz, far from the Tour’s hardest climb. As on Ramaz, the final climb of the eight stage has undergone maintenance for the tour, and the last stretch of the route may be one of the smoothest roads in France.
The Ramaz is the first category one climb of the 2010 Tour, and will have a large part in deciding the outcome of the stage. The summit finish won’t be as difficult, but can be counted on to split the contenders with legs from those without.
The eighth stage behinds in Station des Rousses, a 6,286 population holiday resort and first-time stage town. The Faucille mountain pass above the resort was one of the first passes to be included on the Tour in 1911. The climb has also been a popular finish for the Grand Prix de la Montagne since 1957.
The finish line of the eighth stage is in Morzine-Avoriaz, population 3000. The town of Morzine has hosted stages 17 times, and the resort of Avoriaz has hosted six times. The high-altitude ski resort specialized in hosting climb time-trials in the 70s. In 1985, Lucho Herrera reached the summit in a stage similar to this year’s eighth.
The resort was founded by downhill gold medal skier Jean Vuarnet. A ecological pioneer, the car-free resort boasts surprising architecture. Buildings built with non-treated wood and oriented toward the sun are designed to save energy. From 1973 to 1993, the Fantasy Film Festival took place and helped built the resort’s unique reputation. Avoriaz remains known throughout the world for the Grand Odyssey, The Avoriaz Jazz Up Festival, the International Extreme Sports Festival, and the Tour de France.
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