Stage 19 - The Highest Point

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Tignes

Three stages to go and finally Tony will hit the high point of this year's Tour: the Col de L'Iseran. At 2770m above sea level this is the highest paved pass in the Alps and an Hors Categorie climb of 12.9km at an average gradient of 7.5%. During this, relatively, short stage of 126.5km Tony will also face another four categorised climbs, including the ascent into Tignes itself (a category 1 climb of 7.4km at 7%). He will also pass through a number of alpine tunnels.

I suspect the skiers reading this will know the region well, with Tignes and the nearby Val d'Isere forming the "Espace Killy" ski area. Two quite interesting facts about Tignes:

• It actually consists of five villages - Tignes Val Claret, Tignes le Lac, Le Lavachet, Tignes Les Boisses and Tignes-les-Brévières. The first three are located above the dam, the Barrage de Tignes, and the last two are below the dam. The original village of Tignes was submerged when the hydro-electric dam was completed in the 1950s.
• Tignes is also the site of the highest golf course in Europe so Tony will have the opportunity to loosen up by hitting a few balls!

Drink of the day is H by Hine VSOP cognac. The perfect reviver after a day on the slopes and something that would be great to find in the barrel of any St. Bernard. Sadly it's a myth that these rescue dogs carry brandy with them.

Song of the day is Vertigo by U2