More mountains, this time with a much longer finish on the flanks of the Grand Colombier.
The Route: 133km and 3,820m of vertical gain, a lot in a short course. It’s uphill at the start on some fun foothill roads to help a breakaway go clear, in land where Mandrin used to roam, think of a French Robin Hood without the Hollywood and Disney treatment and the terrain here probably suited his smuggling activities.
After a flat ride to Culoz it’s time to tackle the Grand Colombier but not to the top, instead steep climbing on a south-facing slope via the lacets (“hairpin bends”) before the road straightens and the slope eases leading to a right turn to descent to the valley floor. The descent is tricky amid woodland. Then it’s up the Rhone valley.
The Col de Richemond is gentle, most of the time at 5-6%. In Italian this is called pedalabile, “pedalable” and in French the term is roulant, you can roll up it and even a big ring climb with a suitable cassette on the back.
The Finish: the Grand Colombier again, but there are four ways up and this is the directissime route from Arvière, a village until recently known as Virieu. 8.4km at 10.2% is hard if it was just a steady road but the difficulty here comes with the irregularity, there’s a long section at 15% and other parts at 18%-20% in the first half of the climb. The saving grace for riders is it’s in shaded by woodland.
There’s a gentle section midway for recovery before it rears up again and starts to clear the trees and it’s steep all the way to the finish at the top.
The Contenders: Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) shredded the field of GC contenders and only Isaac del Toro (UAE) could hold the pace and for a long while sat on rather than shared the work but this can give the Mexican options but it’ll be harder to hold on today. These two should be the obvious contenders for the day, helped by Red Bull who should chase today to give Luck Tuckwell’s debut in a yellow jersey some deserved support.
The breakaways keep working but today will be a lot harder given the GC contenders are likely to take on the race more. Torsten Traeen (Uno-X), Lorenzo Fortunato and Harald Tejada (XDS-Astana) are good in the mountains but the form isn’t sparkling.
Weather: sunshine and 29°C.
TV: KM0 is at 12.25 and the finish is forecast for 4.00pm.
Postcard from the Grand Colombier
Ride the whole Grand Colombier from Culoz via the lacets to the top and it’s 18km at 7%, comparable to the Galibier. It doesn’t feel the same as the landscape is gentle and the road only tops out just short of 1,500m above sea level.
Whether one is more scenic than the other depends on taste, the Grand Colombier has great views of the Rhone valley below where you are sufficiently clear of the noise but still able to see details down below; the Galibier can feel almost Himalayan at the top and a wilderness with only marmots for company before plenty of tourists in cars and motorbikes interrupt you.
One view you get from the Grand Colombier is a glimpse at the future. The area is host to the Ain Bugey Valromey Tour, a junior stage race that uses these roads in the Jura mountains. Last year saw 16 year Benjamin Noval finish third and he’ll ride for Netcompany-Ineos as soon as he’s out of the junior ranks and eligible for the World Tour. Albert Withen Philipsen won 2024, ahead of Paul Seixas and Lorenzo Finn.
Andrew August beat Paul Seixas in 2023. 2022 saw Emil Herzog, Maxime Delcomble and Jan Christen the podium. In 2021 it was Romain Grégoire, Cian Uijtdebroeks and Lenny Martinez. Junior results count for a lot more these days and so this race is a big deal for participants, World Tour development teams and their scouts, plus agents looking to sign any talent that hasn’t been snapped up.
This year’s edition takes place in July and the final day is a time trial up the Grand Colombier. Who ever wins this can hope to see Mont Blanc in the distance, the Rhone below weaving past the Lac du Bourget… plus a six figure contract from a World Tour team with a bright future ahead of them.