Alpe d'Huez

Twenty-one numbered bends from Le Bourg-d'Oisans to the resort, 13.8 km at 8.1%, and the steepest of them come first: the road leaves the valley at over 10% and does not ease until the church at La Garde. Each bend carries the name of a stage winner, which is the whole character of the place. It is a climb of rhythm rather than surprise, the same gradient bend after bend, which is why the pros race it flat out from the bottom and why everyone else learns to count.