It has never happened in modern cycling that the mountains were so close to Paris. It has never happened that the penultimate stage featured four legendary climbs in succession, it has never happened that just hours before the finish on the Champs-Élysées there were 5,450 meters of elevation gain to overcome. It has never happened, but it will happen today in the twentieth stage of the Tour. The Bourg d'Oisans - Alpe d'Huez, 170.9 km, with 5,450 meters of elevation gain is a stage where absolutely anything can happen.

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After tackling the Alpe d'Huez yesterday, the Grande Boucle returns to the same finish line today: departing from Bourg d'Oisans, right at the foot of the Alpe, but taking different roads, steep, hard, and demanding.

You leave Bourg and immediately start climbing: a handful of kilometers in the valley and then up the Col de la Croix de Fer, categorized climb at km 33.7, Hors Catégorie, 24 km at 5.2%. Long descent, with what will probably be the easiest part of the entire stage, and approach to the second climb, the Col du Télégraphe, categorized climb at km 87.6, 1st category, 11.9 km at 7.1%. From here... you can't breathe anymore.

A brief descent leads to the turn for the Col du Galibier, categorized climb at km 110.5, HC, 17.7 km at 6.9%: from here a long glide towards Mizoen where you start climbing again to cross the Col de Sarenne, categorized climb at km 156.5, HC, 12.8 km at 7.3%. The final kilometers, to be pedaled around 2,000 meters of altitude, lead to the Alpe finish line, already reached yesterday. However it ends, looking towards the northwest everyone will seem to see the tip of the Eiffel Tower already gleaming in the distance...