It's finally here. After the early skirmishes and the tactical manouvres, the first of the 2017 Tour de France's major high mountain showdowns has finally arrived.
Stage nine's criss-crossing trek through the southern half of the Jura,tots up to seven classified climbs, one second category, three of them Hors Categorie, culminating in the dauntingly difficult Mont du Chat and its perilous descent to Chambery. Some contenders see it as the most difficult single day of the entire Tour de France.
Others disagree, claiming the double-whammy of two stages in the Alps is even harder, but whoever's right, nobody would disagree that the 181 kilometres of stage nine of the Tour from Nantua to Chambery should open up a whole new chapter of the 2017 Tour de France.
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As Movistar Team manager Eusebio Unzue observed after stage eight, following such a tough stage on Saturday through the northern Jura mountains, Sunday's sequel could create bigger differences than expected. And if it rains, as is forecast, then stage nine could throw up even greater challenges.
In fact, this Sunday, Unzue predicted to Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, will be absolutely key to the overall outcome of the Tour.
"It's a stage that's got 5,000 metres of vertical climbing and we'll surely see some very important consequences. Given the way the Tour has reached this particular point of the race, and after such a hard stage, I'm sure on Sunday we'll see a big part of how the race looks in Paris.
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