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At the start of the Tour de France on Saturday, sprinters can wait for their chance. But the first mountains are already waiting for Sunday.
It won’t be comfortable to snuggle into the Tour de France this year. On the first day, everything indicates that sprinters can put their skills to the test on Nice’s famous seafront. The second day, however, goes from Nice to the mountainous interior.
On Sunday’s 186-kilometer stage, two 1st category climbs await the riders, including the 1607-meter-high Col de Turini. The tour’s entourage hasn’t reached such heights on the opening weekend for more than 40 years.
Designed for climbers
The third stage from Nice to Sisteron is also dotted with a few meters of altitude. All 4 mountain classifications belong to the lower category, but they will make sprinters’ legs really burn. And as if the prelude had not been clear enough, the first of the 4 arrivals to the mountain is already waiting for the 4th stage.
An individual time trial, the only one, is only on the program on the penultimate day. In the fight against the clock, La Planche des Belles Filles climbs the Vosges hill. The slope at the steepest point of the final climb of almost 7 kilometers is 24 percent.
Everyone will be alone here
The ascent to the Planche des Belles Filles.
imago images
Many lesser known climbs
At the presentation of the route this year, some spoke of the “toughest tour in recent years.” The tour covers the 5 mountains of France with the Alps, the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, the Jura and the Vosges. Cyclists have to climb 29 mountains in the next 3 weeks.
Legendary climbs like the Alpe d’Huez, Col du Galibier or Mont Ventoux are missing this year, but there are some new climbs on the program. The Col de la Loze, for example, the roof of this year’s tour at 2304 meters, is driven for the first time. At 20 kilometers, the climb is particularly long. Suffering is inevitable.
