Col de Marie-blanque

7.7 8.6 km, per cent

The shortest and steepest of our featured climbs, Stage 9’s Col de MarieBlanque, is set to follow the Peyresourde. Like the Col de Marie-blanque’s Pyrenean cousin, it too wasn’t to be a summit finish, but rather the last climb of the day. The final 3.7 km are the steepest, with the grades hardly dropping below 10 per cent, which is where the fireworks are lit. First climbed in 1978, Marie-blanque was last included in the Tour a decade ago when Juan Antonio Flecha led a seven-man breakaway over its crest.