Stage 12: Briançon > Alpe d'Huez (July 14)

TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 12:  Mountain Stage #4 (Alps)

166 km / 4692m

BRIANÇON>ALPE D'HUEZ

PJAMM CYCLING INTERACTIVE PROFILE TOOL

See our 2022 Tour de France page for the best way to view, analyze and filter Tour de France stage routes and climbs.

https://www.letour.fr/en/stage-12 

Official pre-race summary for Stage 12 (July 14):

 Letour.com - Stage 12

Official pre-race summary for Stage 12 (July 14):

 Letour.com - Stage 12

STAGE 12 DETAILS AND STATISTICS

Stage 12:

• Distance: 166 kilometers
• Altitude Gained: 4,692 meters
• Percentage Grade:

• 45.5% (76 kilometers) descent
• 27% (45 kilometers)  0-5%
• 22.5% (37.5 kilometers) 5-10%
• 4% (7.2 kilometers) 10-15%

• Steepest: (Col de Croix de Fer)

• 500 meters 15.5%
• 1 Kilometer 13.7%

• Highest Point on the Route:  2,642 meters
• Lowest Point on the Route:  536 meters

COMMENTS FROM RACE DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN PRUDHOMME - STAGE 12:

“There’s a wink to history here as well as a desire to close the Battle of the Alps on a route tailor- made for the best climbers. It’s an exact replica of the Briançon-Alpe d’Huez stage of 1986, with the ascent of the Galibier once again on the programme, followed by the climb of the Col de la Croix de Fer, before tackling the 21 hairpins leading up to the Isère resort. It will provide an intermediate assessment of the state of play.”  (Tour de France Stage 12).

THE CLIMBS OF STAGE 12 OF THE 2022 TOUR DE FRANCE

CLIMB 1 (CAT __) - COL DU LAUTARET

PJAMM CYCLING INTERACTIVE PROFILE TOOL

Col du Lautaret may just as well be considered Super Col du Galibier.  Col du Lautaret is 26 kilometers at 3% average grade followed immediately by Col du Galibier which is 8.6 kilometers at 6.7%.  Together they rival Télégraphe & Galibier (35 km at 5.4%) for challenge.  However, the ride from Saint Michael de-Maurienne is a much nicer ride with less traffic.

CLIMB 2 (CAT __) - COL DU GALIBIER

PJAMM CYCLING INTERACTIVE PROFILE TOOL

This is the second day in a row that the Tour reaches its highest poin of 2,642 meters on Col du Galibier.  Col du Galibier was first used in the TdF in 1911 with only 2 of the riders not walking their bikes to the summit.  This will be the Col’s 32nd appearance in the TdF since 1947.

CLIMB 3 (CAT __) - COL DE CROIX DE FER

PJAMM CYCLING INTERACTIVE PROFILE TOOL

Croix de Fer (Iron Cross) has been included in the Tour de France 19 times since 1947 (about once every 4 years).  This col was ignored by the Tour entirely from 1966 to 1986 and this will be its first appearance since 2017.

CLIMB 4 (CAT __) - ALPE D'HUEZ

PJAMM CYCLING INTERACTIVE PROFILE TOOL

Turn 7 - Dutch Corner.

The most famed climb of them all - so much Tour de France history (Dutch Corner, Hinault-Lemond, The Look).  Alpe d’Huez has been a featured climb and mountaintop finish 30 times since first being included in 1952.  The iconic 21 hairpin ascent did not catch on immediately (it did not reappear until 1976), but once it did it was on the world stage forever.  Between 1976 and 1995 it was included in 17 of 20 Tours.

EXPLANATION OF KING OF MOUNTAIN, KOM POINTS AND BONUS POINTS

FOR THE 2022 TOUR DE FRANCE

KOM DEFINED:  Climb-related points are accumulated during the race and the rider with the most accumulated points at the beginning of the stage wears the red polka dot jersey that day and the rider with the most points at the end of the race is crowned that year’s Tour de France King of the Mountains.

“Category”:  When the mountain classification (King of the Mountains) was introduced in 1933, there were points given to the first 10 riders over the summit (10 for first, 1 for 10th).  In 1947, the Tour introduced two climb “categories” with a certain amount of points for the second category and twice as many as for the first category.  Over the years “categories” were added, in addition to an “Above” category (Hors or HC) and since 1979 there have been an HC (hardest), Category 1 (second hardest) on down to Category 4 (least difficult climb).

The category of the climb is significant for 2 reasons:

• The points awarded for the TdF KOM for each climb is based upon the category of climb - thus, “category” is the basis for the points that are used to determine each year’s King of the Mountains.
• Most cycling fans, particularly Grand Tour fans, are very interested in the climb “category” because that tells them how hard each climb on a stage is and where the riders will struggle more and the point in a stage where that day, or even the entire tour, will be won or lost.

KOM HISTORY:  King of the Mountains -- Mountain Classification victories (first recognized in 1933; jersey introduced 1975)

• TdF:

• Richard Virenque: 7 - 1994-1997, 1999, 2003, 2004 (best tour finish #2 1997)
• Frederico Bahamontes (six: 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964; nine in Grand Tours)  

• Triples (none ever in the same year):  Frederico Bahamontes and Louis Herrera.
• Doubles same year (TdF+Giro):  Fausto Coppi, Charly Gaul, Lucien Van Impe, Claudio Chaippucci

POINTS:  KOM points are awarded in two ways on the Tour de France:

•  To riders first over the summit of categorized climbs (in descending order HC, 1-4).  

• The higher the category the more riders receive points (HC points are awarded to 8 riders while CAT 4 points are awarded to only 1 rider).

• Bonus point (see below).

TDF POINTS FORMULA:

Wikipedia has the best summary and graph we’ve seen for TdF KOM points distribution:

he points gained by consecutive riders reaching a mountain top are distributed according to the following classification:

Wikipedia - Mountains Classification - Tour de France

BONUS POINTS:  These points go towards the King of the Mountain designation and are awarded to the first (8 points), second (5) and third (2) riders reaching designated summits in the race.  

This year’s bonus points are given at the top of the following climbs:

Stage 2: Mûr-de-Bretagne (first passage)

Stage 7: Signal d’Uchon

Stage 8: Col de la Colombière

Stage 11: Mont Ventoux, second passage

Stage 14: Col de Saint-Louis

Stage 15: Col de Beixalis

MONEY PRIZES FOR KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

• Prize for First to 4th place:

• Winner = €25,000
• 2nd = €15,000
• 3rd = €10,000
• 4th = €4,000, 5th €3,500, 6th €3,000, 7th €2,500, and 8th €2,000

• Daily prize for wearing the Polka Dot jersey = €6,000
• Per category climb:

• HC

• 1st = €800
• 2nd = €450
• 3rd = €300

• Cat 1

• 1st = €650
• 2nd = €400
• 3rd = €150

• Cat 2

• 1st = €500
• 2nd = €250

• Cat 3

• 1st = €300

• Cat 4

• 1st = €200

Jacques Goddet Souvenir (Stage 18 Col du Tourmalet) = €5000

Henri Desgrange Souvenir (Stage 15 Port D’Envalira) = €5000

The maximum amount the KOM winner could earn if he won every stage and wore the jersey from Stage 2 to the finish is $178,250 Euros ($217,351)