Construction announced for the 2022 Étape du Tour!

After 2 editions canceled due to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Étape du Tour returns to its normal course for its 2022 edition and offers beauty, brutality, and legendary climbs between Briançon and Alpe d’Huez for the 15,000 expected cyclists.

By Olivier Dulaurent – Images: https://dinguedevelo.com, www.letour.fr, Fernand Fourcade, Sportograf, Sirotti, Belga

While the last editions – those that took place or were scheduled – of the Étape du Tour had a slightly softened route to allow the greatest number of participants to complete the course, on July 10th between Briançon and Alpe d’Huez, the situation will be different.

Indeed, the route planned around Nice in 2020 (then postponed to 2021 before being canceled), and those leading cyclosportives to Val Thorens in 2019, Le Grand Bornand in 2018, or the Col d’Izoard in 2017, offered circuits around 4000 m of elevation gain. Similarly, on these editions, logistics were facilitated by the proximity between the start and finish, making it easy to reach the start to complete a loop… by bike.

For 2022, the numbers suggest a more complicated day. Judge for yourself: 170 km (166 km of the official route that professionals will complete during the 12th stage and 4 km corresponding to the neutral start) for 4700 m of elevation gain. These figures are at the top of the range among the most difficult routes offered by the Tour organizers. In France, over such a distance, only La Marmotte offers something even more difficult, with a total slightly under 5000 m, also ending with the climb of Alpe d’Huez.

It will therefore be necessary to climb twice above 2000 m, to the Col du Galibier (23 km at 5.1% but the last 8 km are difficult) then to the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer (29 km at 5.2% but the average is notably reduced by 2 short descents). The last 13.8 kilometers (8.1% average) are the very famous 21 hairpin bends leading to the ski resort in Isère, which had not seen a Tour finish since 2018.

Specific logistics will also need to be planned for participants. Indeed, returning to the start in Briançon by bike seems more compromised, even if some brave souls will return via the Col du Lautaret…

Finally, the historical aspect will be revisited as this route takes the entirety of the one that led to Bernard Hinault’s last victory in the Tour de France in 1986, with the famous hand-in-hand finish with his teammate Greg LeMond.