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Andy Schleck won at the highest finish in Tour history, but Thomas Voeckler clings on to the yellow jersey by 15 seconds

Stage 18: Pinerolo to Col du Galibier (200.5km)

Three of the Tour's nine hors category Alpine climbs loom ominously between the riders and the finish line today in a stage that should go some way towards sorting out the men from the boys ... unlike several other stages we predicted would do so, only for the Gc to remain more or less the same.

First up is the Col Agnel (2,744m), the third-highest pass in Tour history, followed by the Col d'Izoard (2,360m) with an average ascent of 7.1%. Finally, an exhausted field must tackle the Col du Galibier (2,645m), where the first rider to the summit will stand on the stage-winner's podium at a higher altitude than any competitor in Tour de France history.

The highest summit finish the Tour...

Good news. At the time of writing this, Who Head Honcho Steven Moffat has decided to begin the campaign to move the series to an autumn slot. Hopefully, in 2012, all the stories will go out in September or October time, so long as the BBC bosses don’t start wetting their pants over doing battle with Simon The Bland Robot and his entourage of vacant karaoke wannabes.

This is great news, since A) It makes the autumn season more bearable, especially since my favourite season, summer, is dead and gone; B) It’s a refreshing antidote to rubbish like The X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing; and C) It makes more sense to have scares on dark autumn nights rather than in the bright sunshine. Really, the Silence In The Library and Satan Pit two-parters aren’t suited to being viewed on a hot summer’s night.

There are one...