STAGE PREVIEW: Stage 9, Nantua to Chambery

TODAY’S stage of the Tour de France has a brutal route that could have a dramatic effect on the race. As the Tour organisers look for ever more unusual routes, they have come up with this 181.5km haul over seven climbs, some of which are so steep that they have forced riders to get off and walk in the past. This year’s race could be won or lost here. The gradients are hair-raising, with sections of 13pc and 19pc peppering the route. ‘We’ve never featured as many steep grades (in one stage),’ said route director Thierry Gouvenou. Riders have the chance to go for broke, knowing they have a rest day to recover. It climaxes with the steep Mont du Chat, followed by a narrow, breakneck descent off the mountainside into Chambery. When Chris Froome raced down this road in June’s Criterium du Dauphine, he left his rivals far behind. The road was bone dry then but with thunderstorms forecast today there could be mayhem as the riders speed downhill towards the finish.