How many times have you driven somewhere, or been sat in a train, and looked out to see a road and thought “I have to ride that“. The Plateau de Solaison is one such place, visible from the autoroute between France and Italy as a balcony road cut into high cliffs. It’s also the final climb of the last stage of this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné, a discovery for the pro peloton and a very tough climb.
More mountains as the Dauphiné swaps the unfamiliar Jura mountains for old haunts among the Alps. There’s novelty with the climb of the Col de Sarenne used to approach Alpe d’Huez instead of the famous 21 hairpins.
French magazine Le Cycle has labelled the Mont du Chat “one of the hardest” climbs in France and it’s back on the route of the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France after vanishing from these races for decades.
A challenging climb, almost traffic-free and with superb views from the summit. What’s not to like? Actually it’s hard work with few rewards along the way and a useful example of how the enjoyment of a climb depends on more than the road itself.
The mountains are here and no less than the Mont du Chat, once rated by Le Cycle magazine as “one of the hardest” climbs in France. There’s no escaping the double-digit gradients, nor the sluggish road surface and this makes a novel challenge, the kind of climb rarely seen in French stage races. It’s a selective climb followed by a perilous descent to the finish.
So far the breakaways have had fared well, can they defy the sprinters again? Surely not because this is the last chance for the sprinters before the mountains appear.
After a look at the written rules time to explore the issue of the unwritten rules, the code of the peloton. It sounds vague, mysterious even but it’s merely part the glue that holds society together, a set of etiquette and customs that help a group to function.
The crucial time trial stage to reshape the overall classification and an early test of fitness for all the Tour de France contenders.
Can you push a team mate during a road race? Take a spare wheel from another rider? Take part in a local gran fondo? Draft a rival squad during a team time trial? Readers regularly email or tweet questions about the regulations and so here’s a quick review and update the list of dos and don’ts.
Racing might be “200 idiots trying to cross a line first” in the words of Marzio Bruseghin but there are a rules behind the dash and that’s before we touch on the unwritten or societal rules of the peloton. In fact there are a lot of rules and it’s impossible to remember them all, they take enough enough space on a hard drive let alone your own memory so here is a handy, updated reference.
Another sprint stage after scenic riding, some memories from the past for Fabio Aru and all one day closer to the Alps.
A day characterised by long straight roads more than the climbs, this should be one for the sprinters.