This is another hilly stage, with barely a kilometre of flat road, through the Auvergne region which, with its ancient stone farmhouses, open pastures and glorious pine forests, will feel like we’ve gone back in time to another world. The main challenge will come a couple of hours into the day, in the shape of the Mur d’Aurec sur Loire, a 3km climb with a leg-busting average of 11%: this is proper mountain climbing!
The worst (best?) is over at that point, though the road carries on up and down all the way to the final descent into Brioude, Romain Bardet’s birthplace (a stage to watch a week later when pressure on the poor French man will be at fever pitch).
