Two years ago, cycling fans discovered the Planche des belles filles. Chris Froome signed his first victory at the Tour de France in the ski resort of the Haute-Saône that has become a popular destination for both cyclists and skiers as 270 metres of a piece of land neighboring a ski slope had been asphalted to host the stage finish.

A sign board remembers: alt. 1035m, Tour de France 2012, vainqueur Christopher Froome, Chrono 16'11''. A couple of hours after the event, Tour director Christian Prudhomme went to reconnoitre another grueling climb in the area: the col des Chevrères, now described by race director Thierry Gouvenou as “the Angliru in a forest”.

While local riders nicknamed the climb to La Planche des Belles Filles « the little Alpe d'Huez », they also dubbed the Col de Chevreres « the little Galibier ».

It says a lot about what to expect of the unheralded ascent, winding through a forest at percentages reaching 15 pc. For its first inclusion in the Tour, Chevreres, could cause serious damage ahead of the final climb to the finish line. Among the riders at the start, one knows the area well. French climber Thibaut Pinot hails from the nearby village of Melisey.

“It's the first time the Tour rides Col des Chevreres but I know it well… Chevreres reminds me the Mur de Peguere in the Pyrenees, in Ariege. It's a narrow forest road on which you can't have more than three riders at the front at a time. I go there often, it's my training road. I'm there alone, in silence, I know it by heart. You'll have to be well-placed, especially at the foot otherwise you'll never male it back to the front.”

The sixth and second last climb of stage 10 is 10.5km long, with a maximum gradient at 20% – like the famous climb of the Asturias – and an average of 7% to reach the top at an altitude of 914 metres. The highest peak of the race is the Markstein again at 1202 metres.

The idea behind this route is to showcase a massif that is not the Alps or the Pyrenees but is just as likely to be decisive for the overall ranking. It's Bastille Day and a Frenchman, Tony Gallopin, is in the yellow jersey.

Another one, Thibaut Pinot, is in a great shape for racing on home soil. All ingredients are there for a popular success and a great fight between Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador and Co.