PORT DE BALÈS
2017 ASCENT/ LENGTH AND GRADIENT :11.7 KM AT 7% ALTITUDE :1,755 M/ START: GRANGES DE CROUHENS
Michael Rogers’s final professional victory was also his first Tour stage win, in Luchon in 2014. Outnumbered by Europcar, the Australian threw caution to the wind on the Balès descent and arrived solo at the line
“It’s an interesting climb. It’s hard and narrow and it’s also very steep, particularly at the start. So for normal guys who weren’t pure climbers it was always a real test, coming off the big river and whack, straight into a really steep climb. Then it flattens out in the middle section before kicking up again in the final on the narrow road.
“The thing about the Balès is also the descent, which is really hairy until it meets the descent of the Peyresourde into Luchon. The first part is relatively thin roads. It’s usually quite hot and the roads are melting and chewed up by the caravan. You have to have your wits about you and analyse every corner.
“When I won in Luchon in 2014, there was me and two Europcar riders, Thomas Voeckler and Cyril Gautier, and a couple of others. I didn’t want to go into the finish with Voeckler. Europcar made a tactical error by sending the worst descender ahead on the downhill. I picked up on that and I thought, I’m going to win or I’m going to crash and through one corner I didn’t brake, got a gap on Voeckler and blew past Gautier.”