‘A finish here is never easy’ – Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard recon Col de Loze before Tour de France

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) became the latest Tour de France contender to scout the formidable Col de la Loze on Sunday, after Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert had previously tackled the same climb with their Visma | Lease a Bike teammates.

"It's a tough climb and quite irregular. If I'm not wrong, it's the longest climb of the Tour de France this year," Evenepoel said when speaking to Courchevel Sports Outdoor on their Instagram.

"A finish here is never easy, and it's the first time we'll be climbing from Courchevel in the Tour. I think it will be a pretty tough stage with the Glandon and the Madeleine. It won't be easy but it will be a nice stage."

The Belgian rider, fresh from competing in the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he finished fourth in the GC, has set camp in Tignes for altitude training, part of his final preparations ahead of the upcoming Tour de France alongside Soudal-QuickStep teammates such as Valentin Paret-Peintre and Maximillian Schachmann, who were spotted alongside him on the slopes of the Col de la Loze. Both will be key at the Tour in supporting Evenepoel in the mountains, particularly with the absence of Mikel Landa, who crashed out on the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia in May, sustaining a stable fracture to the T11 vertebra.

The Col de la Loze will feature as the climax of what many consider to be the most demanding stage of the 2025 Tour. Stage 18 features three hors categorie climbs, the Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine and finally a summit finish on the Col de la Loze. 26.4km long with an average gradient of 6.5%, the Col de la Loze is set to play a significant part in the general classification, as it has done in its two previous appearances back in 2020 and 2023. The altitude will also be a key feature, as the summit reaches 2,304m above sea level.

Courchevel Sports Outdoor also spotted Visma | Lease a Bike with a day before with nearly their complete Tour squad. Alongside Vingegaard and Van Aert were Simon Yates, Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, Edoardo Affini, and Victor Campenaerts, alongside Head of Racing, Grischa Niermann. From the provisional Tour squad, only Tiesj Benoot was absent, with the Belgian having opted to compete in the Tour de Suisse.

The significance of the Col de la Loze in the upcoming Tour was further highlighted a week earlier, as Primož Roglič was also spotted reconning on the slopes of the climb by Courchevel Sports Outdoor. The Slovenian also has history on the climb, having gained time over Tadej Pogačar here during the 2020 Tour de France, which ultimately proved not to be enough as the latter was able to flip the script upside down on stage 20's individual time-trial to La Planche des Belles Filles.

After abandoning the Giro d'Italia back in May on stage 16, Roglič will be motivated by the prospect of an opportunity for redemption at the Tour, having crashed out twelve months ago, and like his rivals, is well aware of the significance of the Col de la Loze and this climb could impact the race.