Stage 6

The first Alpine stage and in the backyard of the Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale team’s HQ. There’s a dash across to the Col du Granier, climbed “sideways” as in west to east rather than the usual approach in the north-south axis of the Chartreuse trilogy. Then comes the Collet d’Allevard, a ski station summit finish meaning a regular, engineered road but it’s steeper than usual for the French Alps and selective. It was last used in 2011 when Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez won.