Stage 11: Albertville to Col du Granon Serre Chevalier
Date: July 13, 2022
Distance: 151.7km
Stage timing: 12:15 – 16:40 CEST
Stage type: Mountain
No matter what happens Wednesday on the Col du Granon in the Tour de France, to race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) or his closest pursuers Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), the Col du Granon already has its permanent place in the race’s history.
Just as the nearby Alpine ski station of Les Arcs will always be remembered as where Miguel Induráin’s five-year Tour domination crumbled for good in 1996, or Pra Loup for Eddy Merckx in 1975 marked the final day that the Cannibal spent in yellow, the Col du Granon was where way back in 1986 the five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault wore the yellow jersey for the last day in his career. As such, the Col du Granon (also sometimes called the Col de Granon) marked the end of a massive chapter in the sport.
There’s no way we can expect so much from the Granon in its second appearance at the Tour, of course, even if Pogačar is already having to turn down two-edged compliments like being called ‘the next Cannibal’. Nobody has as much in play as Hinault did when he was en route to a never-to-happen sixth Tour victory in 1986 after all.
However, given Pogačar’s track record, and his potential path to yet more records, even if we focus solely on the current yellow jersey the outcome of stage 11 still matters, and enormously so.
It’s definitely the hardest mountain stage so far of the 2022 Tour, after all, and equally unquestionably – together with the ascent to Alpe d’Huez the following day and the Hautacam in the third week – one of the three hardest of the entire race. If Pogacar gets through in yellow and without he or his team showing any weakness, the odds of him retaining it till Paris in 10 days time will be considerably higher.
From the Télégraphe and Galibier to Granon
As if to emphasise the contrast between the unknown value of the Granon and what has come before, on Wednesday’s route the climb will be preceded by the much more familiar features of the second category Lacets de Montvernier. First used in 2015, back again in 2018, the lacets – or loops in English – peak out at kilometre 49 and therefore too far from the finish to have real relevance. But visually, with its improbably vertical chain of 18 hairpins, it will still be one of the most breathtaking moments of the season, let alone the…
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