For a week, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has been building toward this.

Sunday’s final stage may be the length of a junior race at just 120 km, but it’s definitely going to separate the garçons from the hommes.

Today’s race packs more than 4,000 m of climbing into a route that never really lets up. With two hors catégorie climbs and several contenders still in the hunt, the overall victory remains very much up for grabs.

Stage 8 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The action begins almost immediately with the steep Col du Pré, where gradients average more than 10 per cent. From there, the riders face the Montée de Bisanne and Col des Aravis before tackling the decisive ascent to Plateau de Solaison.

That final climb has earned a bit of  rep as one of the most demanding finishes in French stage racing. At 11.3 km and more than 9 per cent on average, it is steep enough to crack even the strongest legs. It will also feature in next month’s Tour de France, giving Sunday’s stage an added layer of intrigue.
Similar to the Stage 3 TTT, it’s a bit of a dress rehearsal, in a way.

The GC fight

Isaac Del Toro heads into the finale as the rider to beat after proving strongest on the Grand Colombier.

The UAE Team Emirates XRG rider looks poised to challenge for both the stage and the overall title.
Juan Ayuso remains a possible threat after pushing Del Toro deep into Saturday’s summit finish, but honestly, the Mexican cruised up to him, and dropped him with ease. If he has the same form today it’s in the bag for him. Meanwhile, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Cian Uijtdebroeks and Matteo Jorgenson will all be looking for one final opportunity to turn the race on its head. And then there’s Paul Seixas. Has he recovered after his crash?

“I took too much risk” Pual Seixas owns 70kph crash at Dauphiné

Luke Tuckwell starts the day in yellow, but with so much climbing packed into a short afternoon, defending the jersey may prove to be the toughest challenge of his young career. Still, you gotta try. There are two Canucks in France, Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Hugo Houle and EF Education EasyPost’s Michael Leonard.

You can tune into the race on Flobikes.com at 8:50 a.m. EDT. There’s also the Copenhagen Sprint if you’re in the mood to see the WorldTour lads on flatter roads, also on Flo.

Affiliate links present. Canadian Cycling Magazine may receive commissions