COL D’IZOARD
2017 ASCENT/ LENGTH AND GRADIENT :14.1 KM AT 7.3% ALTITUDE :2,360 M/ START: LA CHAPELUE
In 1975, Bernard Thévenet took the yellow jersey from Eddy Merckx on stage 15 to Pra-Loup. But the next day, Thévenet really put the boot into the Belgian. He attacked at the foot of the Izoard and finished in Serre Chevalier more than two minutes ahead of Merckx
“It’s not as hard as the Ventoux, say, but it’s unbearably long, 31.5 kilometres from Guillestre and it peaks at well above 2,000m. The wind direction will be crucial, above all in the first part of the ascent, climbing through the Guil Gorge. Then comes the hardest part of the climb, between the villages of Arvieux, and Brunissard, where there’s a really long, horrible straight section of climbing. The Casse Déserte is the high point visually. It’s so empty and bleak, but you don’t really have time to appreciate it when you’re racing. When it’s hot, like in 1975, it’s a furnace up there.
“I’m very pleased that this year’s Tour has a stage finish on the Izoard, because it is hugely important in the race’s history. I read somewhere Romain Bardet said the climb was legendary, but many of the other young racers haven’t heard of guys like Louison Bobet and how he won the Tour there in 1953 and 1954.”