Starting from Horton in Ribblesdale, the home of the iconic 3 peaks challenge, this year's event starts with a benign roll out down Ribblesdale towards Settle... but the easy riding doesn't last for long. After just 8km the route bears sharp right in the village of Langcliffe on to the first climb of the day Langcliffe Scar. At 2.3km with an average gradient of 7.8% and a max. gradient of 18% this is stiff opening for this year's  Etape du Dales.