Col du Haag: the new decisive test in Alsace will open the 14th stage of the Tour

Mulhouse – 18 July 2026: the Vosges are having their big moment. On Saturday, the 14th stage of the Tour de France covers 155.3 kilometres from Mulhouse to Le Markstein-Fellering and packs 3,800 metres of elevation gain into a relatively short distance. The neutralised start is scheduled for 13:10, while the finish is expected, depending on how the race unfolds, between 17:24 and 17:52. It is a mountain stage that needs no long prelude.

Even in the opening phase, the road climbs towards the Grand Ballon. After 36.6 kilometres, the first Category 1 climb is reached: 21.6 kilometres with an average gradient of 4.7 percent. The peloton then passes through Le Markstein for the first time before the circuit through the Vosges, via the Col du Page and the Ballon d’Alsace, heads back towards the finish. The route leaves very little room for conserving energy.

The Ballon d’Alsace, at kilometre 94.4, is a classic test with its 8.9 kilometres at 6.9 percent. But the decisive ramp is the Col du Haag. It appears on the Tour programme for the first time and is crossed after 149.4 kilometres. The numbers are clear: 11.2 kilometres, an average of 7.3 percent, Category 1 climb.

Its impact lies not only in the average gradient. The Haag, an expanded former forest track, climbs unevenly. The first kilometres are particularly hard, several sections approach the ten-percent mark and some ramps are even steeper. Here, steady pacing will not matter, but the ability to push the pedals again immediately after every short change of rhythm.

Axel Zingle of Visma-Lease a Bike describes the final kilometre of the climb as particularly steep and as an ideal place to create gaps. Tactically, the Haag forces teams into a clear choice: will they control from the start for their leader, or allow a breakaway to gain significant ground? Those who react only at the foot of the climb may already be in trouble.

After the summit, about six kilometres remain to Le Markstein-Fellering. The flatter finale does not necessarily slow a solo rider, but it increases the value of every teammate. A rider with a lead of a few seconds must still have enough energy, even after the final steep section, to break the resistance of the chasers in the wind.

For the general classification, the stage is therefore less a verdict than an invitation to attack. Grand Ballon, Col du Page, Ballon d’Alsace and Haag form a chain that can eliminate domestiques from the race early. In the end, it will not only be decided by who climbs the steepest gradients best, but by who can still find another gear in the Alsatian finale.