Pitching the advantage firmly in the court of the climbers, a route favouring the lightweights of the peloton was unveiled by Tour de France organisers ASO today, setting the scene for some dramatic clashes next July.
The essence of the 98th Tour de France was presented to some of the top professionals in the sport, and is already being hailed as an exciting template for the race.
There are several highlights, including three days in the Pyrenees, three days in the Alps; the highest-ever finish in the Tour’s history, atop the 2645 metre Galibier/Serre Chevalier, and four other summit finishes at Super-Besse Sancy, Luz-Ardiden, Plateau de Beille and Alpe d'Huez.
The action will be shaped by a total of 23 HC, first and second-category climbs; a team time trial of 23 kilometres on day two and an individual time trial of 41 kilometres coming one day before the race finish in Paris, plus a completely reshaped points classification competition.
Those details are the backbone of the 21 stage, 3470km Tour, which was unveiled today in Paris and which is shaping up to be a dramatic, suspense-filled clash next July.
Cycling’s top riders were in attendance for the presentation, with the clear exception of two of the four main jersey winners of 2010. Overall victor Alberto Contador and points classification winner Alessandro Petacchi both stayed at home, due to ongoing investigations, but other contenders for those classifications were in attendance. This year’s runner up Andy Schleck was centre of attention, and could yet be crowned the final victor of the race.
The Luxembourg rider is likely to be pleased with next year’s parcours, with the small amount of time trial kilometres plus a decent number of summit finishes making it likely that a climber will prevail.
Details are as follows – check back soon for more:
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2011 Tour de France, July 2 – 24 :
Stage 1, July 2: Passage du Gois - Mont des Alouettes 191km
Stage 2, July 3: Les Essarts - Les Essarts 23km
Stage 3, July 4: Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon 198km
Stage 4, July 5: Lorient - Mûr -de-Bretagne 172km
Stage 5, July 6: Carhaix - Cap Fréhel 158km
Stage 6, July 7: Dinan - Lisieaux 226km
Stage 7, July 8: Le Mans - Chåteauroux 215km
Stage 8, July 9: Aigurande - Super-Besse Sancy 190km
Stage 9, July 10: Issoire - Saint-Flour 208km
Rest day at Le Lioran
Stage 10, July 12: Aurillac - Carmaux 161km
Stage 11, July 13: Blaye-les-Mines - Lavaur 168km
Stage 12, July 14: Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden 209km
Stage 13, July 15: Pau - Lourdes 156km
Stage 14, July 16: Saint-Gaudens - Plateau de Beille 168km
Stage 15, July 17: Limoux - Montpellier 187km
July 18, rest day at Drôme
Stage 16, July 19: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Gap 163km
Stage 17, July 20: Gap - Pinerolo 179km
Stage 18, July 21: Pinerolo - Galibier Serre Chevalier 189km
Stage 19, July 22: Mondane - Alpe d'Huez 109km
Stage 20, July 23: Grenoble - Grenoble 41km
Stage 21, July 24: Créteil - Paris Champs Élysées 160km
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Assessment of Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France race organiser :
Stage 1, July 2: Passage du Gois - Mont des Alouettes 191km:
“As in 2008, the 2011 Tour will begin with a first straight stage of which the start symbolizes the links that unite the Tour and Vendée. Indeed, the official ceremony will be organised on the Passage du Gois, which the riders will take for the procession. This stage is without a doubt intended more for puncheurs (strong riders with explosive speed), than pure sprinters, as they will have to climb to the finish at the top of Le Mont des Alouettes.”
Stage 2, July 3: Les Essarts - Les Essarts 23km:
“This will be the return of the team time-trial, on a completely flat route, which will be marked out for teams who are skilled in this very particular exercise. The length of the stage has been deliberately shortened in order to keep the race moving. The riders’ real time on the stage will be taken into account.”
Stage 3, July 4: Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon 198km:
“We will leave Vendée for Brittany, passing through Loire-Atlantique on the way, before reaching the region of Redon for the first time. This is a stage that has no major difficulties and will definitely be won by sprinters as the final stretch, which is completely flat, should allow us to watch a suspenseful, and in all probability, massive sprint finish.”
Stage 4, July 5: Lorient - Mûr -de-Bretagne 172km:
“This stage in the heart of Brittany, through Morbihan and Côtes-d’Armor is emblematic of the dynamic race that we want to encourage from the beginning of the first week of the Tour. It will provide us with a summit finish which has a steep incline where the pretenders to the Champs Élysées podium may get involved in the fight for the stage victory.”
Stage 5, July 6: Carhaix - Cap Fréhel 158km:
“This will be the third day in Brittany with Finistère and Côtes-d’Armor as a back drop. The end of the race alongside the sea will be favourable to fan and bordure formations, before arriving in a wonderful setting overlooking the English Channel. Along with the previous stage, it will provide the peloton with two very intense days.”
Stage 6, July 7: Dinan - Lisieaux 226km:
“On paper, this stage, which is the longest one of the Tour, taking us from Brittany to Normandy via Mont Saint-Michel, would appear to be intended for sprinters. But they will have to be careful, as the very steep slope which they will have climb in front of the Basilica of Lisieux, 1.5 kilometres before the finish, will make winning this stage complicated for the peloton’s fastest riders.”
Stage 7, July 8: Le Mans - Chåteauroux 215km:
“As the riders will have been transported from Lisieux to Le Mans the night before, they will thus set off from there. After a stage without any major difficulties, sprinters should in principle be successful at the finish in Indre. Indeed Mark Cavendish was the winner there in 2008, but let us remember that he only caught up with Nicolas Vogondy and outsprinted him 50 metres from the finishing line.”
Stage 8, July 9: Aigurande - Super-Besse Sancy 190km:
“The medium mountains will welcome the riders during this stage with a very steep final stretch, which will present a major challenge before the pièce de résistance the next day. The finishing line in Super-Besse at the summit of the renowned slope, a long straight line with a steep incline, may even give the advantage to climbers over puncheurs.”
Stage 9, July 10: Issoire - Saint-Flour 208km:
“This will be the major stage in the Massif Central through the Monts de Cantal, climbing the Pas de Peyrol (Puy Mary) and for the first time the Col du Perthus, with 4,4 km at a gradient of 8%. The difficulties will follow one another throughout the day before the finish in Saint-Flour on the Allées Georges Pompidou after the ascent of Les Orgues (a road running alongside basalt columns) which leads to the upper town.”
Rest day at Le Lioran, July 11:
Stage 10, July 12: Aurillac - Carmaux 161km:
“After a rest day in the department of Cantal, and more specifically in Le Lioran, the setting for the Oxygen Challenge, of which the third edition will take place from 2 to 5 June 2011, the riders will set off from Aurillac. After a short stage which appears to be intended for sprinters, along wonderful, wide and hilly roads, they will arrive in Tarn and Carmaux.”
Stage 11, July 13: Blaye-les-Mines - Lavaur 168km:
“This hilly stage will take the peloton through several medieval villages, which feature on the list of the most beautiful villages in France. Even so, the riders must not dawdle along the route. Those who are sprinters will have to be present in the stage’s final kilometres which will have no particular difficulties, if they want to take advantage of the last chance to get on the podium before the Pyrenees.”
Stage 12, July 14: Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden 209km:
“The assault on the Pyrenees is particularly difficult with three mountain passes on the agenda: a new mountain pass to begin with, the Hourquette d’Ancizan, which will pave the way for the giant, the Tourmalet, which was first featured on the race route one hundred and one years ago, and where the Tour will pay tribute to Jacques Godet, as it does each time it goes over the summit. The ascent to Luz-Ardiden, which has not been visited by the Tour since 2003, the year of its hundredth anniversary, will bring the journey to the Pyrenean Mountains to a close.”
Stage 13, July 15: Pau - Lourdes 156km:
“The peloton will set off from Pau, one of the Tour de France’s most loyal cities and will climb the Col d’Aubisque, the day’s only difficulty, but a major one nevertheless, to arrive on the final stretch in Lourdes with many bends, which will be particularly favourable to attackers, overlooking the town’s sacred places and the famous grotto. The Tour is used to arriving in Hautacam and the finishing line has only been marked out in Lourdes once before. It was in 1948, and it was Gino “the Pious», (Gino Bartali) who was the winner.”
Stage 14, July 16: Saint-Gaudens - Plateau de Beille 168km:
“This short stage will involve no less than six mountain passes ensuring that it will be very tough: the Col de Portet-d’Aspet, the Col de la Core, the Col de Latrape, the Col d’Agnes, the Port de Lers, and the finish on the Plateau de Beille for the fifth time. History will remember that the winner on the Plateau de Beille has always worn the Yellow Jersey on the Champs Élysées podium. Will the tradition be maintained this year?”
Stage 15, July 17: Limoux - Montpellier 187km:
“Limoux will welcome the Tour for the first time and from there on, the peloton will hardly ever leave the vineyards until it reaches Montpellier. After a stage start in a magnificent setting, the race will go past the foot of the city of Carcassonne, before the finish in Montpellier, a stage town for the thirtieth time which has welcomed the Tour every two years since 2005.”
July 18, rest day at Drôme, July 18:
Stage 16, July 19: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Gap 163km:
“After the second rest day, in the department of Drôme, the peloton will head for the Hautes Alpes. The riders will not face any particular difficulties on the way provided that the wind does not pick up. The final stretch involves climbing the Col de Manse followed by the descent from La Rochette before the magnificent home straight in Gap.”
Stage 17, July 20: Gap - Pinerolo 179km:
“The stage will set off from Gap to finish in Pinerolo which is only natural since the towns are twinned. This will also be the occasion for the Tour to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy. Finally, it will also pay tribute to one of the legendary places of Italian cycling and of the Giro d’Italia. After the Col de Montgenèvre followed by the Col de Sestrières, the peloton will still have to climb the slopes of the fearsome Pra’Martino situated on the last kilometres of the route to reach the finish.”
Stage 18, July 21: Pinerolo - Galibier Serre Chevalier 189km:
“A monumental stage awaits the riders as they will climb the Col Agnel, followed by the famous Izoard and its famous lunarscape, and finally the Galibier, at the summit of which will be the highest history of the Tour de France, at 2645 metres. The hundred years of the Galibier echo the 100 years of the Pyrenees celebrated last year at the Tourmalet, and gives an opportunity to pay tribute to the creator of the Tour, Henri Desgrange.”
Stage 19, July 22: Mondane - Alpe d'Huez 109km:
“Forty-eight hours before the finish in Paris, this stage will be even more exciting as it will be short. It will lead the riders to the Col du Télégraphe and then to the Galibier once again, but this time in the opposite direction, before they tackle the 21 bends of L’Alpe du Huez.”
Stage 20, July 23: Grenoble - Grenoble 41km:
“This will be the only individual time-trial of the 2011 Tour. It will be marked out around the urban area of Grenoble and will boast a 41-km long route punctuated with two difficulties, the ascent to Eybens and the foot of the climb to Chamrousse. It is fair to say that the stage will probably be won by a strong rider who is something of a specialist and that, as in recent years, the odds will still be open for the final general classification.”
Stage 21, July 24: Créteil - Paris Champs Élysées 160km:
“Val-de-Marne will host the main part of the route of the final stage of the Tour’s 98th edition. After twenty race days, the survivors will set off from the prefecture town of Créteil and will travel along the department’s roads via Fontenay-sous-Bois before reaching the final circuit (eight laps) on the Champs-Élysées.”