A summit finish and via the Col de la Lusette, one of the hardest climbs of this year’s Tour de France. Legend has it that even Bernard Hinault had to walk up. Today the question is more who’ll lose a few seconds on the climb because the risk seeing the race run away.
Socrate à Vélo by Guillaume Martin
Two unusual teams ride the Tour de France, one Greek and one German, each made up of thinkers like Socrates, Nietzsche, Epictetus and Machiavelli. That’s the premise “Socrates on a Bike” but it’s also an autobiographical account from Guillaume Martin, 12th overall in the last Tour de France and with a masters degree in philosophy in his back pocket. It makes for one of the most original cycling books going and written by an active rider too, so much so that even if it’s in French it’s still worth exploring in an English-language blog.
A day for the sprinters, the profile shows an uphill finish but it’s a gentle rise into Privas. The trouble instead could come from the wind, watch out for le Mistral in the final 40km.
The first summit finish of the Tour de France and in a ski resort with its place in sporting history thanks to the stage in 1971 where Luis Ocaña got the better of Eddy Merckx for once, and by eight minutes. Only that day Ocaña did the damage long before he reached the final climb and today’s stage is likely to be a more controlled race. We’ll get some answers about form and injuries.
You probably know the 2021 Tour de France won’t start in Copenhagen any more, instead it’s been switched to Brest, on the western tip of Brittany. Behind the decision there’s been politicking as the city of Rennes was also a candidate but it rejected the Tour, the new local government said non on environmental grounds and this is likely to be a trend in France, the Tour and other races must change to meet and reflect new environmental demands.
The Tour says au revoir to Nice and heads to Sisteron via the Alpine foothills. If this was the in third week of the Tour it’d be a good day for the breakaway but a sprint finish looks likely.
The race goes into the mountains for a hard day’s racing with two big climbs and a hilly finish, a route borrowed straight out of Paris-Nice. The good news is the sun’s shining.
The Tour starts today and the yellow jersey awaits today’s winner. As well as the Tour’s opening stage there’s La Course to enjoy in the morning on the same roads.
The Tour de France starts on Saturday and there’s no obvious favourite. Primož Roglič and Egan Bernal are the two central contenders, each with very strong teams but they have questions over their fitness and form. Here’s a look at the contenders for the general classification.
Here’s a downloadable calendar of the Tour de France for your electronic diary or phone with brief details of each stage. There’s also a look at the TV coverage ahead.
