Mountains

Michael Rasmussen is a man to watch in the mountains (pic: Gerard Brown)

1984. Laurent Fignon

Fignon won the 1983 Tour in the absence of his former boss, Bernard Hinault, and when Hinault returned - and took the '84 Prologue - the prospect of a real ding-dong was juicy: Fignon's strength in the mountains versus Hinault's power against the clock. In fact, Fignon battered Hinault by 49 seconds in the first time-trial and, on the first Pyrenean stage, 3km from the mountain-top finish at Guzet, on an airless, baking hot day dropped Hinault and took a further 52 seconds out of him.

The final showdown came in the Alps, on the brutal 17th stage, across a number of big cols to the last ascent, l'Alpe d'Huez. Five times Hinault tried to shake the Parisian off on the ascent of the côte de Laffrey, without success, and Fignon crossed the summit with the specialist climber, Luis Herrera. They set off on a blistering descent and a scorching ride along the valley. Hinault eventually caught up some 20km from the end and overtook to arrive at the foot of the last climb with a lead of 20 seconds. (Fignon later described Hinault's desperate tactics as 'laughable'.) Herrera won the day, the first ever Colombian to take a stage, and Fignon put another 2mins 55secs into Hinault.

Had he not been trying to help Greg Lemond (suffering from a chest infection) to a second place on the podium, Fignon might well have won all the alpine stages instead of one solo finish on la Plagne. He took the Tour by over 10 minutes on Hinault and came second in the mountains prize.

1998. Marco Pantani

At 5' 8” and 9 stones, Pantani was the ideal size and weight for a climber. His style was eccentric - permanently on the drops, even when out of the saddle. Bianchi made him a special bike with an extra high head tube to accommodate this. He said he climbed fast 'to make my suffering end sooner'.

In the Prologue, he lost a cruel 43 seconds to the reigning champion, Jan Ullrich, and, by the Pyrenees, was nearly 5 minutes down overall. However, a crushing attack at the end of the mammoth 11th stage - 4 cols and a finish on the ugly steep Plateau de Beille - brought his first win and a gain of 1min 39sec on the German. He had kept his nerve, saved himself for the crucial battlefield of the mountains and his superiority never had clearer expression than on stage 15, 189km, Grenoble - Les Deux Alpes. Pantani dumped Ullrich on the Galibier and crossed the summit with the lead group 2min 29sec up.

They powered on at blistering pace (Ullrich was a lumpen descender) down and along the valley in dull, cold misty weather on wet roads. On the final climb, Pantani rode clear and the power climber, Ullrich, who had never had an answer to savage changes of tempo, trailed in 8min 57sec down. He attacked next day on the Madeleine, but Pantani contained him with ease and, comfortably cushioned against losses in the final time trial, rode to Paris in yellow.

2006. Michael Rasmussen

The Dane, Rasmussen, nicknamed Chicken Legs, more for his scrawny musculature than the level of his fighting spirit, which is high, came to road racing as professional World Mountain Bike Champion. He took his first Mountains prize in the 2005 Tour, after what had become a familiar audacity. On stage 9, in the Vosges mountains, he broke early and finished, alone, with a lead of 3mins 4 seconds. He was plainly no great threat to the overall placings, no potential overall winner, but such wanton expenditure of resources is always risky.

If the aim is to maintain consistency in the climbing competition, the excessive fatigue brought on by such cavalier attacks is damaging. However, Rasmussen is blessed with that most precious of physical attributes, a good recovery rate. In 2007, he repeated the scenario with a breathtaking solo ride from just over 4km out on stage 16, crossing four mountains, including the Galibier to France's oldest ski station at Toussuire. It was enough to give him the polka dots. He finished looking spent, in tears with the strain.

The attack had been okayed by his leader Denis Menchov, whose hopes of the win in Paris had evaporated. On stage 11, Rasmussen had compromised his own ambitions by riding selflessly for Menchov, towing him towards the finish at Pla de Beret. The Dane eventually pulled off exhausted: a star rider who had ridden himself dry for team duty.