Etape Du Tour 2016 Route Change After Rockfall On Col De La Ramaz

Falling rocks on the descent of the Col de la Ramaz have led organisers of L'Etape du Tour to amend the route of the sportive, which takes place this weekend on Sunday 10 July. The Col de la Ramaz has been cut from the course, with organisers stating that the passage of 15,000 cyclists through the affected area was too risky.

The Etape will start in Megève and finish in Morzine as planned, with rider start times unaffected by the route change.

While the revised route is 24.5km shorter than originally planned – shortened from 146.5km to 122km – still packs in 2,873m of climbing, the removal of the Col de la Ramaz means there are only three climbs to tackle between Megeve and Morzine, rather than four.

There is a possibility that the rockfall will also affect stage 20 of the Tour de France, which is due to follow the same course on July 23rd.

The Col des Aravis (6.7km at 7 per cent), Col de la Colombiere (11.7km at 5.8 per cent) and Col de Joux Plane (11.6km at 8.5 per cent) remain on the parcours, but the Col de la Ramaz (13.9km at 7.1 per cent), which was due to be the penultimate climb, has been removed, eliminating a significant hurdle from the route.

The route will now follow a valley road from the bottom of the descent of the Col de la Colombiere in Meussy, to Tangines, where riders will re-join the original course before the start of the final climb, the Col de Joux Plane, in Sameons.

For more information, visit the official Etape du Tour website: www.letapedutour.com.

The Etape du Tour route has been modified due to rock falls on the Col de la Ramaz; the climb and descent have now been removed from the course (Pic: ASO)