The petition, which has already attracted around 6,000 signatures, follows a similar, successful campaign against the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a\u2019s inclusion of the Bola del Mundo climb in September<\/a>, the race\u2019s organisers ultimately bowing to the demands of activists by banning spectators from the mountain\u2019s final, most ecologically fragile kilometre.<\/p>\n >\u00a0\u201cThe authorities responsible for protecting the Sierra de Guadarrama shouldn\u2019t make the same mistakes over and over again\u201d: Environmental campaigners oppose\u00a0plans for Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a finale on Bola del Mundo<\/a><\/p>\n The Col de Sarenne, a 12.8-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 7.3 per cent, forms the final flourish to what Tour organisers ASO hope will prove an exciting crescendo to cycling\u2019s biggest race next July, based almost entirely around Alpe d\u2019Huez, arguably the sport\u2019s most famous test.<\/p>\n Following a summit finish on the Alpe on the Friday, in its traditional 21-hairpin format, the Tour\u2019s penultimate stage is the toughest of the entire race, featuring the fearsome Col de la Croix de Fer, the T\u00e9l\u00e9graphe, the Galibier, and finally the Sarenne, before finishing back at the nearby ski resort of Alpe d\u2019Huez.<\/p>\n The Sarenne, essentially the \u2018back road\u2019 to the much more famous Alpe, has featured once before at the Tour, back in 2013. Then it was primarily used as a descent off Alpe d\u2019Huez, which featured twice on the same stage that year, the riders tackling the final few kilometres towards the Sarenne\u2019s summit before heading back down to the foot of the climb.<\/p>\n The peloton has raced up the entirety of the Sarenne previously, in essentially the same format as next July\u2019s route, at the 2017 Dauphin\u00e9, when Team Sky\u2019s Pete Kennaugh won on the Alpe and his fellow Brit Ben Swift finished second.<\/p>\n However, if a local environmentalist, the aptly named Matthieu Stelvio, gets his way, there will be no repeat of that 2017 Dauphin\u00e9 \u2013 possibly forcing ASO into a drastic rethink of its grand crescendo-focused plans for next year\u2019s Tour.<\/p>\n In his petition,<\/a> Stelvio points out that the Sarenne, located in the Ferrand Valley, is home to marmots, foxes, chamois, short-toed eagles, and stoats, as well as the rare and \u201cfragile\u201d black grouse, whose chicks hatch in July, when the Tour will pass through the area.<\/p>\n \u201cReaching an altitude of 1,999 metres, the road leading to the Col de Sarenne is beautiful and wild,\u201d Stelvio wrote. \u201cClosed for eight months of the year, this road is a pastoral route, reserved for shepherds. The speed limit is 20kph\u2026 The Col de Sarenne is one of those beautiful and rare places where you can still breathe pure air.<\/p>\n \u201cThe organisers of the 2026 Tour de France want to transform the Col de Sarenne into the world\u2019s largest stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ab13220.jpg\" "\\"The")
The peloton climbs the Col de Sarenne, 2017 Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 (credit: ASO\/Alex Broadway)<\/p>\n
![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/zw-01722.jpg\" "\\"Fans")
Fans on Alpe d’Huez during the Tour de France (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n