A hard ride and some very interesting decisions

Jul 25, 2015 09:29 GMT  ·  By

The final mountain stage of the 2015 edition of the Tour de France is only 110 kilometers long, but it features two of the most iconic climbs associated with the competition, designed as a final test for the entire peloton before their celebratory ride into Paris.

Initially, the ASO wanted to have gamers go over both the Galibier and the Alpe D'Huez, both of them filled with history and with impressive ramps, demanding a big effort from the men who want to actually win the stage.

It would have been an epic stage both to watch in real life and to play in Pro Cycling Manager 2015.

Some road issues mean that the peloton will actually go over the Croix the Fer once again, from another direction, and then over the Alpe D'Huez.

The fact that just 110 make up the stage means that riders will be moving fast from the start and I will try to control the action as much as possible, with my cyclists on the front, in order to put myself in a solid situation for the final climb.

Prediction: the queen state will spur all the favorites to try and take the stage and I suspect Contador will try to show his colors once more, both in PCM 2015 and in the real world, even if he is out of the running for the Tour win.

Legendary rides, both real and virtual

Cancellara was the first to sacrifice himself in order to keep escapees at bay and did so on the first big downhill section.

It was then time for Felline and for Jungels to do the same thing, while also making sure that everyone had enough water, and I then tried once again to ride a fast pace up the Alps D'Huez to keep the favorites from going early.

I failed once again but this time only three of them managed to create a solid gap and I managed to stay with Nibali for the most part, although at the end he put in a solid acceleration to the line.

The climb is fearsome, and I would love to try the stage again to try out some different things.

Take a look at how the Alpe D'Huez stage of Le Tour has played out: