Hautacam

As a climb to a ski resort, Hautacam is always a summit finish at the Tour, and it has been the scene of several race-winning moves – some cleaner than others.

- Ellis Bacon

Fans of 1990s pro bike racing will remember Hautacam as the Pyrenean climb on which Bjarne Riis sealed his domination of the 1996 Tour de France – a day when the Dane theatrically dropped back alongside each of his rivals to assess how they were feeling before accelerating past them all and disappearing into the distance, as though he had a motor hidden in his bike.

Of course, we know now that the stage was indeed fraudulently won, but not through so called mechanical doping: Riis admitted in 2007 that he’d taken performance-enhancing drugs for much of his pro career.

But let’s blame the rider, not the mountain. Climbs like Hautacam – innocent, unmoving, stoic, beautiful – provide only the canvas. They are not the artist, flawed or otherwise.

In the yellow leader’s jersey since Stage 9, Riis sought the advice of his former teammate and two-time Tour winner Laurent Fignon as to how he should defend his race lead on the road to Hautacam on Stage 16. ‘Attack!’ the Frenchman told him in no uncertain terms. ‘The yellow jersey should be laying it all on the line in the mountains.’

All the main contenders were there, halfway up the 16.3km long climb: defending champion Miguel Indurain, Tony Rominger, Richard Virenque and Festina teammate Laurent Dufaux, Luc Leblanc, Evgeni Berzin, World Champion Abraham Olano… and they were being led by Riis’s 22-year-old Telekom teammate Jan Ullrich, who had been tasked with setting the pace on the climb.

‘Just go as fast as you can for as long as you can,’ Riis told the young German, according to his autobiography, Riis: Stages Of Light And Dark.

Then it was time for Riis to put the next phase of his plan into action: wait for his rivals to begin suffering behind Ullrich, assess them for signs of weakness, and then deal the knock-out blow.