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Stage 16: Bourg d’Oisans to La Toussuire -182km
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Course: If L’Alpe d’Huez does not decide the Tour’s likely outcome, then this even tougher day in the Alps should do the job. The survivors first ride the 34km back to the top of the Lautaret, where a left turn takes them another 8.6km at 6.7 percent to the top of the Galibier — the Tour’s highest point at 8681 feet above sea level.
After the 35km descent of the Galibier and intermediate Col du Télégraphe, the next 23km is down the Maurienne Valley. Of the remaining 79km, some 47km are uphill, in three separate climbs: the 23km Col de la Croix de Fer, the 6km Col du Mollard and the 18km grind to the finish at La Toussuire. …) At 4km longer than L’Alpe d’Huez, and at the end of a grueling menu of 17,000 feet of climbing, La Toussuire could well be the “new” Alpe.
History: A stage has never finished at La Toussuire.
Favorites: Given its length, intensity and critical positioning, this stage is almost certain to designate the final podium, so Landis, Evans and Leipheimer will again be vying for ascendancy with Menchov, Sastre, Andreas Klöden and Michael Rogers. It should be spectacular!
