High Mountains Stage
Thu, July 22 —starts at 12:15 local time

About Stage 17
By Chris Brewer
With the exception of the upcoming Time Trial, I think this stage is the most decisive of the race.  With just a short 33km run in to the real work, the peloton faces two demanding Cat 1 climbs leading to a 33km showdown to the summit of the Col du Tourmalet.  Expect a tremendous effort as each man is laid bare against one of the most famous climbs in Tour history.  It’s all on the line today!




About Col du Tourmalet
Although this is only the second year in which the town of Col du Tourmalet itself has been a stage town, the area has been visited by the Tour 73 times in the past 100 years. This is due to its phenomenal and challenging Pyrenean mountain pass. At an altitude of 2,115 meters, the pass is the highest road pass entirely in the country of France, and is the most frequently climbed pass on the Tour.

The name Tourmalet translates to “bad detour.” It was added to the Tour in 1910, after a friend of the Tour’s organizer spent an excruciating night trying to reach the top yet still insisted the journey was “feasible.”  During the snowy winter months, the area around Col du Tourmalet makes up the largest skiing resort in the French Pyrenees.

-- City descriptions written by Rachel Horn