Here Come the Alps: The Tour's 9th Stage
The 8th stage of the 2010 Tour de France finished in Morzine-Avoriaz, where the riders took the first of their two rest days on Monday. This three-day visit is the Tour’s 24th stop to the town since 1975.
The 9th stage of the Tour is the Alpine stage, passing over the Col de la Colombière, the Col des Aravis, and the Col de la Madeleine. There is no summit finish in this second high mountain stage, opening the race up to different strategies for the riders who have been holding back for the summit finishes in the last two stages.
This could be fertile territory for Alberto Contador to win back the time lost on the cobblestones, but these are not the ideal conditions for a big battle of the favourites. An attack could run the risk of a leader losing touch with his team. Furthermore, poor downhill riders will also expect to suffer losses in this stage.
“It will be a really hard and complicated stage, and we should see the main contenders in the Madeleine,” Contador said on Monday. “Maybe other riders will feel more confident and that will be good because then we have a stronger rhythm.”
Contador, 3rd place overall, has said he plans to conserve his energy in this stage, whereas the same cannot be said of Andy Schleck, who has a better chance competing with Contador in the mountains than he does on the flat stages and in the final.
Tuesday's scenic stage will treat the cyclists with a ride through French ski culture, former Olympic venues, future Olympic venues, and the birthplaces of some renowned French skiers. Next year, France will bid for the 2018 Olympics, and the stage town of Morzine is being offered as the host of the women’s downhill skiing. Part of the biggest skiing domain in the world, the resort has already hosted 11 World Cup races.
50km into the stage 9 race, the contenders will pass Le Grand Bornand. The resort has hosted two different Tour de France stage starts, included one stage in 1999, which was won by Lance Armstrong. The seven time champion later took a stage finish here in 2004, and Frank Schleck did the same last year, overtaking the overall leader Contador.
At 97km, the route takes in the Les Saisies pass, which was the Nordic skiing site for the 1992 Olympics. Also, the 1992 Winter Games dramatically transformed the town into the busiest ski area in Europe in winter.
St Jean de Maurienne was the start of a stage in 2006, and will this year be hosting a stage finish for the first time.
Two category one climbs and one out-of-category climbs over the course of 204.5km, the 9th stage is the most difficult of the Alps stages. The two category one climbs are early in the stage, and the final 30km are flat, so it’s not the ideal battle-ground for Contador and Schleck. The less explosive riding style of yellow-jersey holder Cadel Evans might be better suited, if the 8th stage injury to his left arm is kept in check.
“The legs are still going, which is the important thing,” Evans said. “That is what the main concern is right now. It’s a little bit uncomfortable right now. Hopefully with a good night’s sleep, I should be all right. I’ll try to take it as easy as possible, and get as much physiotherapy as possible on my arm.”
Alexandre Vinokourov took a similar stage in 2005, including the Madeleine and Galibier climbs, winning it after a breakaway with Santiago Botero.
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