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Video: Tour de France Stage 14 preview as race hits the Alps

Col d’Izoard, the highest point of this year’s race, plus a new summit finish at Risoul

There’s a big couple of days coming up in the Tour de France with the race hitting the Alps. Matt Stephens and Tom Last of GCN have ridden the route of Saturday's Stage 14 to see what lies in wait for the riders.

The stage includes the Col de Lautaret and highest point on this year’s race, the Col d’Izoard, which tops out at 2,360 metres.

Stephens describes the final climb to the ski station at Risoul as “an absolute brute” – the gradient doesn’t exceed 8 per cent, but it doesn’t drop below 6 per cent either, making it relentless.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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