Following a flat 50km warm up from their rest day city of Cuneo (population 55,000), the riders face one of the most intense stretches of climbing in Tour history. After crossing the Demonte river and turning left in the little Italian village of Pratolungo, they face 11,000 feet of uphill work in the following 82km over two of the toughest hors categorie mountain passes in Europe. The first is the Col de la Lombarde, a narrow and twisting mountain road that averages 7 percent for 21km, with the steepest pitches at up to 13 percent in the first half of the climb. The grade eases to 4 percent in the final 3km across the Italy-France border before descending through the ski resort of Isola 2000 (where Tony Rominger won a stage of the 1993 Tour) to the Tinée valley, where the uphill work recommences within 5km. The climb to the Cime de la Bonette averages 6.2 percent for a daunting 26.7km — and the most difficult part is at the top. The final 9km average 9 percent, with the maximum grade of 10.2 percent continuing for a whole kilometer. From the 9,193-foot summit (the highest in France), the survivors can look forward to a rapid 22km downhill on a recently resurfaced road to Jausiers (population 1,100) and 1.5km of valley roads before the finish line.