The peaks of the Alps loom large as the Tour de France prepares to enter the high mountains for a second time for the denouement of this year’s race and four stages of racing which will ultimately decide the champion.

With that in mind, here’s RoadCyclingUK’s guide to the Alps, before we start, this should probably be called ‘a brief guide to the Tour and this week’s Alps’ because we’re actually focusing on some of the climbs and locations that you’ll see over the next four days on the Tour route.

‘Proper’ mountains have been a part of the Tour de France since 1910, when the race first ventured into the Pyrenees. The first stage was far from a taster, however, as the race went over the Col d’Aubiqsue and the Col du Tormalet and both paths bore far more resemblance to dirt tracks than they do to the roads used today. The climb of the Tourmalet proved the final straw for French rider Octave Lapize, and prompted him to yell the now iconic phrase: “Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, assassins” (you are murderers! Yes, murderers) at Tour organisers during the epic 326km stage.

Despite many riders resorting to walking, Tour founder Henri Desgrange decided to include the Alps in 1911 and the mountains have been a staple of the Tour ever since. They were popular enough that the King of the Mountains competition officially appeared for the first time in the 1934 Tour even though the newspaper l’Auto had been awarding a prize for the best climber since 1905, and the polka dot jersey didn’t appear until 1975.

This year, the Tour crosses a few well known passes in the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Glandon and the iconic Alpe d’Huez, but also breaks new ground with the beautiful Col de Chaussy. Let’s delve a little closer into the peaks and places the 2015 de France will visit in the Alps.