So here we are then. It comes down to this. One last day in the Alps. You'd be hard-pressed to design a better stage for a thrilling finale to a Tour de France – the only problem is the fight for the yellow jersey has long since lacked any real suspense.
Or has it? Chris Froome crashed in the rain yesterday and had to dig in deep on the final climb having taken a bash to his knee. With more climbs, more descents and more downpour on the menu this afternoon, it might not, after all, be over until it's all over. Up until yesterday, it had become increasingly clear that this Tour has been ridden 'à deux vitesses'. Froome, as Eddy Merckx noted on Thursday, has been in a league of his own – the strongest man in the race and the man with the strongest team in the race.
He still has a lead of more than four minutes, and this is still ostensibly a race for the podium, but it is nevertheless uncertain how the hangover will be after the mini ordeal yesterday. In any case, the action in the shadow of Mont Blanc seemed to reawaken a Tour that had been in danger of sleepwalking its way to Paris after the second rest day.
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An open contest, a dash of tension, and a sense that anything could happen are certainly ingredients the race directors had in mind when drawing up the parcours for today's climax.
It's a short and potentially explosive mountain stage – as seems to be the fashion these days – with a descent to the finish. 146.5 kilometres linking Megève and Morzine, it takes on some pretty serious mountain passes in the form of the Aravis, the Colombière, and the Ramaz. But it's the final hors-catégorie climb of the Col de Joux Plane and the subsequent white-knuckle descent into Morzine that's the centrepiece here.
The Joux Plane-Morzine combination is something of a classic, despite only having featured in the Tour 11 times. It made its debut in 1978 but wouldn't really be seen until two years later, as the weather closed in and prevented the television images from being transmitted. Christian Seznec won that day but a 23-year-old Bernard Hinault was on his way to the first of five Tour de France titles – two more of which would see him cover the same roads.
- Quintana, Morzine and the echoes of 'Lucho and Parra'
- Tour de France: Chris Froome survives crash, finishes on Thomas' bike
- Tour de France 2016 Stage 20 preview: Megève - Morzine, 146 km
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