Caution: Everything you are about to read is probably false. I don’t want to delete this post, but the number you see below just can’t be right. Thanks Rich for pointing what should have been the obvious.

I just received this little tidbit in my inbox a few minutes ago and was mildly surprised.

It says that this year’s Etape du Tour will have 4600 meters of elevation gain, which is the same as climbing Mont Blanc from sea level.

I’ve never done that, but I have done a Ventoux Triple or two and 4600 meters is in the ballpark of that little test of madness, too.

It’s not the biggest amount of climbing the Etape has ever seen (done that), but I just thought it’d be less, given the profile. Maybe the lack of a 3rd peak had me fooled. Anyway, you’ve been warned, riders carrying extra weight this spring. You’ll want to be as slender as a Schleck come July.

This isn’t the profile, but it is the latest detailed map of the route.