Next year, the final major climb of the Tour de France will be the Col de Joux Plane which the riders will climb on the penultimate day. That final stage in the Alps from Megeve to Morzine will see the riders face the Col des Aravis, Col de la Colombiere and Col de la Ramaz before they take on the Joux-Plane.
It’s not just that final climb where there might be opportunities to gain time on rivals though, as the tricky descent might also give riders the chance to gap their rivals.
In 1987, the Col de Joux Plane was also the final major climb of the race, and the riders faced the same descent to Morzine. Prior to the stage, Stephen Roche trailed the race leader, Pedro Delgado, by 39 seconds.
Roche was expected to overcome the deficit in the final time-trial, but the Irishman didn’t want to leave that size of a gap until the penultimate stage. In the final stage in the Alps from La Plagne to Morzine, he saw an opportunity to gain time on that final descent.
Delgado had tried to distance the Irishman on the climb, but was unable to shake him. After going over the top, Roche’s team mate Eddy Schepers led through the first few bends, before Roche went past.
Roche was a noted descender and he used his skills to gain time on Delgado. He also knew that Delgado had crashed on this same descent in 1984 and that it might be playing on his mind. On the flat run-in to Morzine, Roche gained further time on the Spaniard.
Eduardo Chozas took the stage win with Roche finishing in second, 43″ down and Delgado a further 18″ behind. It meant that Roche would just have to gain 21″ on Delgado in the final time trial to win the race, which he duly did to become the first and only Irish winner of the Tour.
This video shows the final kilometres of the stage.
