89th Tour de France - Grand Tour

France, July 6-28, 2002

Live coverage    Results    Previous stage    Next stage

Stage 17 - Thursday July 25: Aime - Cluses, 142 km

By Tim Maloney, European editor

The final Alpine stage of the 2002 Tour De France has a late start in Aimé at 1:00pm, the tiny Savoie town's 4th time to host a TDF stage start. From Aimé, the road goes up almost at once, with the east face of the Cat.1 Cormet de Roseland (19.4 km/5.8%), commencing after only 10 km. The beautiful, wooded climb has two distinct sections separated by a false flat section midway. After the summit, Cormet de Roseland offers a technical descent to the Arly valley, where the Cat. 1 Col des Saisies (15.3 km/6.0%) awaits. Saisies is where Marco Pantani attacked Lance Armstrong here in 2000 and with half the stage yet to go, don't be surprised if this Col is again prime territory to attack the Maillot Jaune.

Col des Aravis (11.7 km/4.9%) crosses the massif of the same name. Not particularly difficult, the Cat. 2 Aravis was first included in the Tour De France 91 years ago. The final Alpine climb of the 2002 Tour De France is the Cat. 1 Col de la Colombière (11.8 km/5.6%), which climbs the magnificent Massif des Aravis via the shorter south side of the col, but with the last 3 km at 8%, the narrow Colombière is no pique-nique. After the final summit, Stage 17 descends 21 km to finish in Cluses, the main town in the Arve valley.

Profile

Previous stage - Next stage

km    Location
0     Aime                                                    Start
31.5  Cormet De Roselend                               Cat. 1 climb
70    Col Des Saisies                                  Cat. 1 climb
96.5  Col Des Aravis                                   Cat. 2 climb
121.5 Col De La Colombière                             Cat. 1 climb
142   Cluses                                                 Finish

© Cyclingnews.com 2002

back to top