Here’s the 2020 Tour de France guide. There’s a profile of every stage with a quick take on the day. You’ll also find reference material on the race rules like time bonuses, the points scale for the green and polka-dot jersey, time cuts and plenty more.
This is a blog post but you’ll find a permanent page on the menu at the top of the page or just remember or bookmark inrng.com/tour in case you need it for reference.
“You’re only as good as your last race” is cycling’s version of “what have you done for me lately?” and Team Ineos’s selection for the Tour de France is a clear demonstration. Out go Thomas and Froome, in come Carapaz and Amador.
Dani Martinez wins the Critérium du Dauphiné ahead of Thibaut Pinot and Guillaume Martin at the end of a thrilling final stage. Not a shock but a surprise. Primož Roglič looked the strongest rider all week but retired before the last stage, copying Egan Bernal who had also left. In this abbreviated, condensed season the Tour de France is more important than ever and the Dauphiné was both a lively and instructive five days of racing.
The final day of the Dauphiné and another big day the Alps. Before the flag drops the first question is whether Primož Roglič starts, he had a hard crash yesterday and may decide to sit it out, just as Egan Bernal did yesterday.
A hard day in the Alps, today’s stage is up and down all day with 4,600m of vertical gain.
Another day, another summit finish and this time with the giant Col de la Madeleine in the way.
The race goes into the Alps with a short stage and a big summit finish, today is a big test of form and fitness with a long climb that’s the hardest summit finish of the week.
The opening stage of the Dauphiné has some familiar roads before an uphill finish. This is notionally the flatter stage before the Alpine racing ahead but it’s all relative, it’s a hard day in the saddle with a tough finish.
If the Critérium du Dauphiné is a condensed version of the Tour de France, this year’s edition is even more concentrated, five stages and all with uphill finishes. After the lively Tour de l’Ain last weekend, we’ll see another round of Jumbo-Visma vs Team Ineos, only this time practically every other contender for the Tour de France and their full-strength squads are coming too.
The same race but with a new route, this year’s Milan-Sanremo is hotter, hillier and longer than usual but remains as accessible as ever to a wide cast of contenders and just as elusive too.