Former champion rider Dan Martin has ample experience in winning - and suffering - in the Pyrenees, both in the Tour de France and other top races, and the Irishman is convinced that the design of this year's Tour route will make the opening round in the high mountains even harder and more damaging than usual.
Martin not only believes that Hautacam, the first high mountain summit which awaits the Tour on Thursday, is "the hardest single climb in the Pyrenees." However, as Martin also points out, the positioning of the first of the Tour's most difficult climbs deep in the second week will make it much more difficult for riders to adapt – cue extra suffering, potentially big-time.
