COL D’IZOARD: A MOUNTAIN IN THE SHADOWS OF TOUR GIANTS
*Cover image by Daniel Hughes Col d’Izoard: A mountain in the shadows of Tour giants – Rouleur Rouleur reflects on the tales of the Col d'Izoard, the alps fifth highest mountain pass APRILE 05, 2024 WORDS: ANDY MCGRATH This is an edited version of an article originally published in Rouleur magazine, edition 51 (2014). Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme has always wanted to pay homage to the race’s historical kingmakers and heartbreakers, while seeking out fresh challenges. Mission impossible. It can’t be done. Certain places will be sieved out, because something’s got to give when new clashes with old. “The Tour always evolves. Today, the great summits of the Tour are Mont Ventoux, Alpe d’Huez, the Tourmalet and the Galibier . But it is no longer the Izoard, for example. That was the great climb of the 1950s and '60s,” Prudhomme told Bicycling in 2011. Didn’t anyone tell Monsieur Prudhomme to respect his elders? Greatness is a subjective thing. Besides, the To...