Spanish cyclists have always been good at the Pyrenees, but few places have delivered more Tour satisfaction in the form of victories than Morzine, in the Aulps valley in the Alps. Ion Izagirre, Eduardo Chozas, Ángel Arroyo and a cyclist from the Kelme team entered triumphantly there.
The stage will be very similar to the one Ion Izagirre won in 2016 with the Movistar jersey, in the rain. In the last 50 km, the Col de Ramaz and the Joux Plane are climbed, in the First and Special category, respectively.
When the Joux Plane is uploaded, he usually acts as a judge of the stage. This time, in addition, it is done by the hardest part, by the Samoëns slope. There are almost 12 kilometers in which the slope never drops below 7%. Steady and steep, the ascent becomes extremely hard and has the added bonus of having 8 bonus seconds at the top. There will be a battle like the day of Marie Blanque.
In Morzine the historic Kelme team achieved its first victory in the Tour de France. It was in 1988 thanks to Fabio Parra. The Colombian climber had already won another mountain day three years earlier with the Café de Colombia jersey, with the permission of his boss Lucho Herrera, but for the brand from Alicante it was a milestone to enter the history of the Tour. As if that were not enough, Parra finished third on the podium in Paris. And Juan Martínez Oliver later won the last time trial.
