The riders descended into Briançon today and will be climbing back up it tomorrow. Stage 12 of the Tour de France is the final Alpine challenge, a day with three mythical climbs that together form an extremely hard stage where the climbers will have another opportunity to deliver serious damage. 165 kilometers and 4600 meters of climbing.
This can, as today, be a crucial day for the overall classification.
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Stage 12: Briançon - Alpe d'Huez, 165.1Km
The riders immediately ride into the false flat of the Col du Lautaret. It’s a long false-flat valley ascent, and will take the riders back up into the Col du Galibier. Again altitude will be a challenge, the final 8.7Km have 6.5% average gradients with the steepest ramps in sight of the summit, however at this altitude all gradients are harder than what the numbers say. It comes early in the day though, so mostly it should be the place to form a breakaway.
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Col du Galibier: 23Km; 5.1% average gradient; 132Km to go
The next ascent will be the Col de la Croix de Fer. 29.1 kilometers at 5.2%, however with two descents in it’s bulk. It’s a hard ascent, with two short but steep sections in it’s first half. It’s a very long effort though, so most will be eyeing the final kilometers. Although altitude isn’t as high the riders will ride over 2000 meters, and see 6.5 kilometers at 8.3% near the summit – exposed and filled with hairpins, ideal for a long-range attack. It’s summit comes with 55 kilometers to go.
Col de la Croix de Fer: 29Km; 5.2% average gradient; 55Km to go
After a long descent and a quick valley section the riders will arrive at the base of one of the most iconic climbs of the Tour de France, Alpe d’Huez. 13.9 kilometers at 7.9% average gradient, the maximum doesn’t go much higher but it does come at the base. In several occasions the decisive attacks have happened at the base. In others it came down to a sprint. Everything is possible depending on the riders. This is a climb which will be packed with fans, packed with hairpins, exhausted riders climbing at their best whilst others try to survive, everything to see a real spectacle.
Alpe d'Huez: 13.8Km; 8.1% average gradient
CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Jonas Vingegaard
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- A great champion but a better human. jus' sayin'
Davide15-11-2026 - Congrats! It is done so now is time for CX.averagecyclist15-11-2026
- It's going to happen at some point. It will happen to Tadej as well, we all get older. Jonas was in pretty great form at the tour. I still consider him a top two or three cyclist in the world, until he's not.awp15-11-2026
- mij, I am not so sure of that. I have been on a spine ward at a Denver hospital that had quite a few spinal injuries from mountain biking.BDBigGuy15-11-2026
- Pogi takes care of his teammates in races and training. Tadej Pogačar is widely praised within the cycling peloton for his fair and egalitarian leadership, actively supporting his UAE teammates both on the road during races and behind the scenes at training camps. Rather than acting like an untouchable superstar, he has intense team loyalty by sharing daily chores, giving up personal glory to help domestiques, and publicly praising their sacrifices. Unlike some Grand Tour contenders, like Vingegaard, who occasionally train away from their squads, Pogi consistently attends team training camps alongside his domestiques, making the exact same sacrifices to build friendship. I love how Pogačar shares his teammates-domestiques, either when they succeed or win in races or when they simply just do a good job for him. It has to be a great moral boost for them. And then they work even harder and go even deeper for Pogi. This is teamwork.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- Yeah, what he said!Lozza15-11-2026
- I’m sure Jasper Philipsen would disagree with you.Lozza15-11-2026
- Article says he was “out for a spin around the town”, implying not off-road.Lozza15-11-2026
- let’s be honest, Alpecin is all about one rider - MVDP. I’m sure he gets whatever he needs, the rest get the scraps.mij15-11-2026
- there are more vicious injuries on a road bike than a mountain bike far and away.mij15-11-2026
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