After a rest day and two flat, sprinter-friendly stages, fans of the climbs will be in for a treat on Stage 12, as the 104th Tour de France enters the Pyrenees Mountains.
Stage 12 will depart from the Pyrenees-Atlantiques city of Pau, where Stage 11 finished, which sits at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains.
The first 50 kilometers of the stage will be relatively flat, and will stay at a lower altitude under 350 meters, while passing through the the cities of Tarbes and Tournay.
Once the riders have passed through Tournay, they will face their first categorized climb of the day on the category 4 ascent to the Cote de Capvern. This climb will be the least-steep ascent of the day, at an average gradient of only 3.1%, but covers 7.7 kilometers in distance and will likely be the first segment that separates the peloton on the stage.
After reaching the summit at the Cote de Capvern, 64 kilometers into the stage, the field will pass through the town of La Barthe-de-Neste before descending into the village of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges.
Soon after making their way through Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, riders will reach the first, and only, intermediate sprint of the day 94 kilometers from the departure in the commune of Loures-Barousse.
From Loures-Barousse, the peloton will begin to make their way into the higher summits of the Pyrenees.
104 kilometers into the stage, riders will reach the foot of their second categorized climb of the day. This ascent will take the field up the Col de Ares, as they travel 7.4 kilometers over a 4.6% average gradient, to an altitude of almost 800 meters above sea level.
Riders will quickly descend from the summit of the Col de Ares down to the commune of Sengouagnet before beginning their third major climb of the day.
The third categorized climb of the day will take riders above 1,000 meters in altitude to the summit of the Col de Mente, which sits 1,349 meters above sea level. This will be the first category 1 climb of the day and riders will cover almost 7 kilometers at an average gradient of over 8%.
The stage only gets more difficult from there, as 27 kilometers from the finish the field will face their most difficult climb of the day on the Port de Bales. The Port de Bales ascent will be the only HC category climb of the day, and will feature a grueling slog of 11.7 kilometers up an average incline of 7.7%. Once at the summit, the peloton will have reached their highest point of the stage at 1,755 kilometers above sea level.
The final 10 kilometers of the stage will feature two major climbs, with the first one taking the field up an average incline of 7.8% over 9.7 kilometers on the Col de Peyresourde and the final climb of the day to the finish line in Peyragudes covering 2.4 kilometers at an average gradient of 8.4%.
Team Sunweb rider Warren Barguil will be the man to watch on Stage 12, as we head into the Pyrenees. Barguil currently sits in the lead of the mountains classification, with a 30 point cushion over second place, and will look to pad his lead as the King of the Mountains. The French rider almost captured a stage victory earlier in this year's Tour, finishing 2nd on Stage 9 after he was narrowly edged out at the line by Cannondale-Drapac rider Rigoberto Uran. Barguil will surely be hungry for a stage win, and will once again be riding a stage profile that suits his strengths. If there's one thing Barguil knows, it's how to suffer. He excels in the mountains and at brutal one-day classics, so expect Barguil to be in the lead group attacking the three arduous climbs in the final 30 kilometers, looking for his first stage victory at the Tour de France.
Thibault Pinot (FDJ) is another rider who has a strong chance of taking home the victory on Stage 12. Pinot knows what it takes in the mountains at the Tour de France after wearing the polka dot jersey for three stages at last year's Tour. The French rider also finished 4th at the Giro d'Italia in May, and will be looking to bring some attention to FDJ after the team lost four riders due to time cuts on Stage 9, including their sprinter Arnaud Demare. Pinot is a veteran rider, and one of professional cycling's most notable names. Pinot is one of cycling's best climbers, and beating out a strong field to take the win on Stage 12 in the Pyrenees would help solidify the French rider's place atop the Tour de France and professional cycling. Watch for Pinot to be aggressive on Stage 12.
Little has been said about Primoz Roglic (Lotto NL-Jumbo) to this point at this year's edition of the Tour de France, but the Slovenian rider is quietly sitting in second place in the mountains classification and could be looking to capture points in the mountains on Stage 12. Roglic is a solid climber, as well as a talented time trialist, and has been consistent throughout the first half of this year's Tour. Roglic is riding in his first Tour de France this year, and will likely be looking to make a statement after a successful spring saw him finish 3rd at the Tour de Romandie, 4th at Tirreno-Adriatico, and 5th at the Tour of the Basque Country. While there are true climbers in the field that could challenge for victory on stage 12, Roglic has shown that he can hold his own throughout a variety of disciplines and will be happy to put pressure on Warren Barguil by capturing points towards the polka dot jersey.
Other riders to keep an eye on during Stage 12 include Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), as well as general classification contenders Chris Froome (Team Sky), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Fabio Aru (Astana), and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo).
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