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89th Tour de France - Grand Tour
France, July 6-28, 2002
Live coverage Results Previous stage Next stage
Stage 12 - Friday July 19: Lannenezan - Plateau de Beille, 199.5 km
By Tim Maloney, European editor
More fun for the whole TDF peloton family on Stage 12; longer and tougher than Thursday's stage. Starting just before 11am in Lannemezan, a small town in the Pyrenee Piedmont. Stage 12 has two Cat. 1 and two Cat. 2 climbs before the difficult final ascension to the finish at the Hors Categorie Plateau-de-Beille, Stage 12 will be one of the most crucial stages in this year's Tour. After 55 km, the steep Cat. 1 Col de Menté (9.4 km/9.0%) starts the day off, the 12th time this climb has been in le Tour De France. Then it's the short and not sweet Col de Portet d'Aspet (4.4 km/9.8%) after 70 km, with a twisting, technical descent to Saint Lary.
After the feed zone, Stage 12 confronts the little known Col de la Core (14.3 km/5.8%), a Cat.1 ascent first climbed in the 1984 Tour. Stage 12's penultimate climb is Cat.2 Col de Port, (12.6 km/4.9%), not too long or steep, but bound to be challenging after 143 km of racing. Finally, Stage 12 climaxes with the, steep, unrelenting HC Plateau-de-Beille (15.9 km/7.8%).The last time a TDF stage finished on the 1,790m high climb in 1998, Marco Pantani rode to a memorable stage victory.
Profile
km Location 0 Lannemezan Start 30 Loures-Barousse Sprint 56 Col De Mente Cat. 1 climb 71.5 Col De Portet-D'aspet Cat. 2 climb 81.5 Orgibet Sprint 107.5 Col De La Core Cat. 1 climb 155.5 Col De Port Cat. 2 climb 183 Les Cabannes Sprint 199.5 Plateau-De-Beille Hors Cat. climb & Finish
© Cyclingnews.com 2002
