The Tour de France will use a starting grid to place riders ahead of Stage 17, the ultra short stage of 65km from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulan. It’s been in the rulebook of the race for some time but seems to have caught attention recently.
Yvette Horner was at the intersection of French popular culture in the 1950s and 60s when she played the accordion at the Tour de France, a publicity stunt that made her famous and jump-started a career that took her from the bars and cafés of Tarbes to Nashville, the big stage and prime time television.
A winning moment? The team time trial gave Geraint Thomas a big cushion of a lead, almost a hammock to swing in but he confirmed as soon as the race reached the mountains that he could rival the pure climbers, including at Valmorel where he jumped away once the road flattened out take time on Adam Yates and Romain Bardet, his principal rivals and again at La Rosière, taking time and time bonuses.
The final stage and the hardest finish with the climb to Le Bettex via Les Amerands. Remember the early finish time if you plan to watch on TV.
110km and packed with climbing, this is a copycat stage of one of the upcoming Tour de France stages. Tune in early because the final two stages have an early finish.
The race rides into the Alps and a summit finish at Valmorel, a long and gruelling climb that should help hone the hierarchy ahead of this weekend’s decisive stages.
The Dauphiné heads for the mountains and the unheralded but stunning Vercors plateau and the first of four summit finishes.
An aide memoire about the new UCI rule that’s been applied for a year now to some bunch sprints where a gap of at least three seconds needs to exist in order for a new time gap to exist. It’s still under trial this year and more complicated than mere gap of three seconds.
A team time trial, a dress rehearsal of great interest to the teams ahead of the Tour de France but probably not as gripping for onlookers. This stage will reset the overall classification before the race heads into the mountains for four consecutive stages.
The last chance for the sprinters and a ride across some fine countryside before a finish in wine country.