It seems unbelievable now but when Alpe d’Huez was first climbed and used as a stage finish in the 1952 edition the press and the public were unconvinced that there was a future for this climb. The stage was won by the now legendary Italian Fausto Coppi but it was 24 years before the tour returned. Quite what changed in the perception of the public and the press is unclear but since its reappearance, it has been rare for two editions of the race to go by without taking in the climb and it’s become a favourite in the hearts and minds of all Tour fans.

Much of recent Tour legend has been played out here. Add into the mix the natural theatre of the Alpe's 21 hairpins and you have an irresistible combination. On Saturday the stage is set for a showdown between Chris Froome, the leader and Nairo Quintana, his nearest challenger, who perhaps has a last chance to gain time and maybe snatch the Yellow Jersey  before Sunday’s finish in Paris. 

Alpe dHuez’s second appearance in 1976 was won by Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk, starting an enduring love affair between Zoetemelk's homeland and the Alpe. Today thousands of orange-clad Dutch fans flock to hairpin seven for a party that lasts for days in the build up to the stage. They will be there now in their hundreds, with the party well underway.

The climb itself is not the most difficult in the Alps but it does start off quite savagely. There's no soft introduction here. The first three ramps average over 10% before settling down to around 8% for the rest of the ride. The regular hairpins break up the climb making it that little bit easier psychologically. 

The Col du Galibier was first introduced in 1911. This climb was the favourite of Tour founder Henri Desgrange. As well as taking delight in making his riders suffer, Desgrange was a bit of a poet. When the Tour peloton tackled the Galibier that July day in 1911, Desgrange wrote: "Are these men not winged, who today climbed to heights where even eagles don't go … they rose so high they seemed to dominate the world!" He also said that, compared to the Galibier, all other climbs were like gnat's piss. A monument to Desgrange stands on its southern side. In 1998 the climb was the springboard for a glorious attack by the late Marco Pantani. The tiny Italian lit up a bleak and grimy day, attacking in torrential rain four kilometres from the top of the climb and holding his lead all the way to the finish at Les Deux Alpes. It was an escapade that would send him on his way to victory in Paris.

Two years ago, to mark the centenary of that first stage on the Galibier, the mountain hosted its first stage finish, becoming the highest point for a Tour stage finish. That day Andy Schleck attacked 60km from the finish to win a legendary stage. The climb was scheduled for this year’s edition but due to a land slip the route has been changed, so the Galibier misses out this time.

The climb itself is a long and arduous grind up to Plan Lachet before the road crosses a river and begins a steep series of switchbacks. From here the gradient rarely falls below 8%. It's grand and quite barren rather than beautiful. Just after the tunnel that is open to cars but not to bikes, the road kicks up again for a final kilometre at over 10%.