Despite all the talk to the contrary, the 1st stage of le Tour turned out to be a sprinters stage after all, with the throngs of spectators filling the roads along with the odd road narrowing looking to cause more delays to the riders than the hills themselves. Rather than any lack of severity of the climbs themselves it was probably due in larger part to the 50km of near flat roads that followed the final climb of the day. Fear not, stage 2 will be completely different! (Apart from maybe the fans and the narrowing roads). 9 categorised climbs but plenty of uncategorised hills in between (e.g. England’s longest, continuous climb (and bunting) of Cragg Vale) will make for a tortuous day in the saddle. Couple that with technical descents and narrow roads for the last 37 km with the final, 33% Jenkin Road just 5 km from the finish in Sheffield and the end result will be anyone’s guess!
Côte de Blubberhouses
1.8 km at 6.1 % (Cat 4)
Côte d’Oxenhope Moor
3.1 km at 6.4 % (Cat 3)
Côte de Ripponden
1.3 km at 8.6 % (Cat 3)
Côte de Greetland
1.6 km at 6.7 % (Cat 3)
Côte de Holme Moss
4.7 km at 7% (Cat 2)
Côte de Midhopestones
2.5 km at 6.1 % (Cat 3)
Côte de Bradfield
1 km at 7.4 % (Cat 4)
Côte d’Oughtibridge
1.5 km at 9.1 % (Cat 3)
Côte de Jenkin Road
0.8 km at 0.8 % (Cat 4)