The 2010 Tour de France looks, on paper at least, to be a real corker of a race. Highlights include an 8km prologue around Rotterdam, sections of cobbles used for the famous Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Paris-Roubaix spring classics, and a tortuous route through the Pyrenees including the Peyresourde, Aspin, Aubisque and Tourmalet climbs.
Phil Deeker, organiser of the inaugural and mighty 2009 Cent Cols Challenge, has recently recced the entire 2010 Tour de France route for a charity ride called Tour de Force to take place next year organised by the William Wates Memorial Trust. A dozen cyclists will have the opportunity to ride the entire Tour route, with 150 others riding sections of the route.
So, here’s Phil’s view on the route
“The Tour can be divided up into natural sections as follows:
The Classics (stages 1, 2 and 3). For once the first stages will be entertaining.
The Sprinters Time (4, 5 and 6). Pressure on Cav and his direct opposition.
The Alps (7, 8, 9 and 10 – 7 and 10 being ‘gentle’ Alpine stages). It’s about the Pyrenees in 2010, but these stages are still quite spicy.
France Profonde (11, 12 and 13). Truly great stages and highly recommended riding for amateurs. Will provide some great racing on the Tour. Don’t miss the climb to Mende, famous for Laurent Jalabert’s Bastille Day win in 1995.
The Pyrenees (14, 15, 16 and 17). An exceptional mountain feast. Every moment to be lapped up.
The Home Run (18, 19 and 20) Flat and fast.
In detail
Stage 1
This stage will get progressively breezier as the route approaches the sea and the landscape becomes more dramatic too: open spaces which will be beautiful in the sun and pretty threatening if it rains and blows one.
The highlight will surely be crossing the Zeeland Bridge, the longest dike/bridge in the Netherlands at just over 5km long. Yes, of course it has a cycle path! It was so windy when I went over, even the car was complaining. There will be some classic Tour shots to be had here.
After this dramatic section of the Polders, the route leaves Zeeland for the urban/industrial delights of Bergen-op-Zoom where we turn right down towards Antwerp. From here it is just a succession of urban sprawls almost all the way to Brussels. With only a few km left to the finish, the route visits the village of Meise where The Master still lives and apparently will be celebrating his 65th birthday when Le Tour passes through. The Master is The One who, when asked for a top training tip said: “Ride Lots.” End of quote. I love him
Stage 2
After a gentle, rolling start, it’s all change once we plunge down into the Meuse valley and come up the other side. Now begins part two of this stage and its true character and ‘raison d’être’ is revealed. Six of the climbs that are used on the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, otherwise known rather romantically as the Queen of the Classics, get in a queue, one behind the other, and await the riders.
Slowly up a 5-8km climb and fast down, six times. Each one gets progressively harder, but there is one that will be remembered above all the rest (literally): the Stockeu. I have so far only found one climb steeper than this in the Ardennes and fittingly it is where an Eddy Merckx tribute statue stands proud at the top. This was his favourite moment to ‘kill’ his opponents, if they were still clinging on to his wheel at this point. IT IS STEEP, but not long though! The second wink to Eddy.
After a first taste of cobbles, through the charming town of Stavelot, the route heads for the last two climbs of the day, no easier than the others of course, and includes the Côte du Rosier, one of the prettiest in Belgium. The finish straight in Spa will provide one of the best sprint arenas of Le Tour: 1.6km of dead straight and slightly not-quite flat (i.e. up a bit).
Stage 3
Once through the ‘Pays des Collines’ (trad: ‘Hilly Country’), this stage wakes up. The route begins to twist and turn its way through village after village, criss-crossing railway lines: you are already able to imagine the bike control required when racing full throttle along these roads in the Paris-Roubaix. Forget hills and nice views now: this is all about a totally different way of racing a bike.
The villages are ugly, the roads erratic, but there is a real atmosphere here: this area sees dozens of races all year round, the Paris-Roubaix being the star of course. At km 166, you hit the first section of “paves”. A gentle one to start with and only 700m long. It hardly gives you an idea of what is to come, but will shake the bars even so. There are 7 sections in all, covering 11km. which will be QUITE ENOUGH!
The longest sections come once the route is onto French soil for the first time. There are four of them and all but one are very long (1-3km) and very rough. There is a club called “The Friends of the Cobbles” who are supposed to maintain these historic pieces of ‘road’. I think they spend more time in the café, talking about what they should do, than actually getting out there in the cold and wet, judging by the state of them. But maybe that is what it is all about. Here, Le Tour is paying homage to the whole culture of bike racing, in all its facets.
The final section of cobbles is considered one of the hardest of the Paris-Roubaix race and is named the “Pavé Bernard Hinault”. It is a bit rough, I have to say. But get through this and you are home and dry. The actual finish line is also at a historic place – right where the P-R race plunges into the cobbled road through the Forest of Arenberg.
Stage 4
The dullest stage of the Tour.
Stage 5
A flat-to-rolling ride all the way with a mix of exposed farmland, quaint villages and quiet roads. No main roads at all. Decent road surfaces. The weather will determine how hard this stage could be. Wind will make it hard, naturally.
Stage 6
Beautiful quiet roads but noticeably more lumpy than stage 5. Gentle rolling, though, not proper hills. More charming villages as the route explores the Bourgogne area. The latter part of the stage has more short hills as gradually the route approaches the regions of Franche-Comté and the Jura. It is a long stage and therefore will be quite testing.
Stage 7
This stage is a superb one: after the flat start of a good 40km to warm the legs up a series of real but gentle climbs, going up and down ridges that separate the plateaux of the Jura region. Quiet roads through woods with some great hairpins. But no climbs over 4-5%. They vary in length between 2 and 5km. The two real climbs come at the end of the stage. They are a bit longer but again have no steep sections.
The official end of the stage is at Lamoura which is about 16km from Les Rousses. But this last 16 km is flat, which is why the official stage stops before in order to create a climb-finish.
It really is not too hard. Scenery is 10/10. Quiet roads and two climbs that I would call ‘real’ without being too hard.
Stage 8
The stage starts from the extremely ugly Bois d’Amont. I am sure the TV cameras will find something to show there, but I have no idea what that would be.
After a very gentle climb along a winding road up to the Col de la Faucille, a superb vista of the Swiss Alps and Lake Geneva opens up as riders will begin a very safe and fast descent down into the valley. The route then winds its way west and south of Geneva, through some very soft countryside: pastures, orchards and occasional woods. It does however get progressively hillier as it approaches the Northern Alps.
This stage saves the hardest for the last 50km, with two big climbs in store : the 1st cat Col de Ramaz was “fermé” due to snow so we had to stay in the valley but it is just as hard as the final climb of the day to Avoriaz. This one was open, due to the ski-station at the top. It has a tough section in the middle, with ramps of 10-11%, but otherwise is a long hard grind.
Overall, a varied and well balanced stage.
Stage 9
By far the toughest of the Alpine stages. The Colombiere and Madeleine are amongst the toughest Alpine climbs and when you add to those two the Aravis and Saisies in between the two, you have a stage that could have been a worthy candidate for the Etape du Tour stage, had it not been a special year for the Pyrenees in 2010.
After a short climb out of Morzine back to Les Gets, the first descent of the day takes riders down to Taninges from where another short climb takes them up and over to Cluses. The climb up to Le Reposoir bites fiercely with only a brief respite at the village before the main climb begins. This is a hard 17km climb, with the steepest part at the top! A great descent, then up, more gently this time, to the Aravis and through La Clusaz. Great views here of Mont Blanc and then another very enjoyable descent to Flumet.
The climb up to Les Saisies is noticeably harder but is followed by 40km of almost constant downhill to Albertville. From here there is just under 20km of flat, so in all 60km to try and get some legs back on for the biggest bump of the Tour so far: the Col de la Madeleine, north side. At 26km it is one of the 3 longest climbs of the Tour. It will hurt.
Stage 10
The Tour route takes the N85 from Grenoble, via the Cote de Laffrey – a very sharp climb but also notorious as the most dangerous stretch of road in France.
At the Barrage du Sautet, the Tour route leaves the N85 for what will be one of the highlights of the whole Tour I am sure: the Col du Noyer is a ‘bijou’, a beautiful wild place. A 16km climb, but again with nothing to bite your legs like the day before will have done. What follows then is probably the most dangerous descent of the Tour.
Essential TV viewing then. Back on the N85 for 3km and then it’s time to turn off for just one more quick climb: a tongue-in-cheek inclusion for 2010 of the 4km climb included in the 2003 TdF route (Cote de la Rochette) with its tricky descent (another one) down into Gap where Lance A did his cyclo-cross stunt to avoid a crashed Beloki.
Overall then, for an ‘intermediate stage’ this is quite tough.
Stage 11
For the second time running the stage begins with a welcome section of flat for 45km. In fact this turns out to be the easiest stage so far. After the village of La Beaume the road climbs up for 5km for the only climb of the day over the Col de Cabre. The climb is not hard and is the doorway to 60km (yes 60!) of descent.
A superb, safe, fast road. A real thrill. The road goes down to the Rhone valley, via Die and Crest and then turns north towards Valence. The last 60km of the stage is where the sprinters will be waking up. Mostly flat, this is Cav’s time to shine again.
Stage 12
This stage rises up from the Rhone valley into the northern forests of the Ardeche region, with a series of three sustained but consistent 4-5% climbs, each 6-10km long. The road surface is superb, the views too and the woods could offer valuable shade in July. The highest point of the day is found at the Suc de Montivernoux, included for the first time in the TdF. By this time we are in the ‘Puy’ landscape of the southern Massif Central: rounded hills with pointy-bits – remnants of a once very active volcanic area (The Sucs are smaller, pointier rock outcrop versions of the Puys). Wind would be bad news for this part of the day. Views are forever and houses are few and far between.
Fabulous swooping descents are the justified paybacks for all the climbing which never really stops until Pradelles, after which there remains 50km of N88 all the way to Mende.
Mende is a beautiful town hidden in a valley of the Lozere region and even has its own airfield. If you ride this stage, you will never forget that Mende has an ‘airport’. The climb up to it from town is only 4km, but after 205km of very ‘rolling’ roads this will seem a lot more.
The middle of the climb has ramps of between 10 and 15% and would be feared even amongst climbs in Devon. The whole township of Mende, and their friends, will be here when the Tour arrives to see what promises to be one of the most dramatic finishes of the Tour. The road is already painted with messages of expectation for 2010.
Stage 13
This one is non-stop up and down, but not in UK style. This is France, the Monts de Lacaune. Each climb and each descent is to be enjoyed as it takes time to unveil and, on this stage, never gets out of hand. Most climbs are between 4-6% max. The pros will rarely move out of the big ring for these. The climbing is all but over after 120km, from where the route begins a long descent towards Castres and then on towards Revel. A small climb before Revel will catch the sprint trains out, perhaps, so not such a straightforward finish for the sprinters.
Stage 14
This stage is in fact not as bad as it looks on paper. It is an ideal ride into the Pyrenees, saving the big moments for the end of the stage and the hardest bit, and it is hard, right to the end. The climb up to Bonascre will undoubtedly be one of the top five most awaited moments of the 2010 TdF. It’s another spectacular way to end a stage.
The day begins with 25km of relatively busy, but almost totally flat, road into Castelnaudary, the Cassoulet Capital. A superb road crosses the first foothills of the Pyrenees heading towards Mirepoix. Quiet with a gently rolling profile, this is France at its best.
The stage continues like this, never quite flat, but never too testing either. The Big Hills growing larger, the views towards them will prove as daunting as they are beautiful. Once through Axat, the road follows the Gorges de St Georges, very gradually climbing. This can be quite tiring to ride since there is often a headwind on this stretch. Then follows a 14km climb that forms the heart of this stage: the Port de Pailheres climb and the first true Pyrenean climb. It’s a tough one with several steep stretches, but at least it becomes a little easier towards the top. Wild horses always seem to hang out on this road and add to the rural charm of this climb.
A very fast descent takes you down all the way into the thermal town of Ax’Les-Thermes. Thrilling stuff. But, then follows what I consider the hardest climb of the route so far: the 8km climb up to Bonascre (Trois-Domaines ski station). Six of the eight kilometres are brand new road surface which helps quite a lot. But most of this 6km is at a gradient of 10%! After a ‘soft’ ride until the Pailheres, the duo of Pailheres/Bonascre puts things back into true TdF dimension!
Stage 15
After a quick 2km climb out of Pamiers there is another rolling section to the hilltop village of Carla-Bayle. A strange little loop included in the TdF route because this little village holds a “Pact of Eternal Freinship with Rotterdam”, so the sign says!
This rolling section on very quiet road goes down to Sabarat and then on to the valley of Cousterans. But before that the road goes right through an enormous grotto. Extraordinary! Once through, there is 56km of flat, well almost, before the climb over the Portet d’Aspet. This stage is very similar to the preceding one in that it is quite soft until the end. The climbs over the cols of Buret and Ares are quite long but never steep (3-4%) before a great descent into the Garonne valley. Then comes the monster of the day: the climb over the Port de Bales.18km of hardship.
It is possibly my favourite climb in the Pyrenees: wild, changing and strikingly beautiful. But you need to give all you have to get to the top. It is only the second time the Tour has used this. In 2007 (when the Tour used it first) they had to ‘finish’ the road, since there is a section (at the beginning of the descent) that was not even Tarmac. The ride down and down and down all the way to Luchon will be a demon descender’s race to the finish.
Stage 16
The first stage of the Pyrenean Duo that will probably decide the Tour in 2010. The Peyresourde, Aspin, Tormalet and the Aubisque are a lot to ask anyone in one day. Thankfully these two days are separated by a rest day: it will be needed.
Apart from the last 60kms down and into Pau, this stage is one climb after another of the ‘best’ the Pyrenees has to offer. The climb over the Peyresourde begins within 2km of Luchon. The toughest section comes after about 6km but rarely rises more than 8%. It is a dramatic climb with a classic series of hairpins to contemplate as you get towards the top.
After a long and enjoyable descent to the charming village of Arreau, it is up again for 9km to the top of the Aspin. The views here are outstanding and the narrower road makes this seem quite an intimate climb. It can be particularly hot here as the climb is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Usually a large herd of cows and horses waiting for you at the top.
Then another welcome breather as you descend to the village of St Marie de Campan from where the Tourmalet climb begins. Once over the top follows one of the best descents you will find in the Pyrenees and the third of the four long descents of the day. Each of these descents is quite similar: one fast section down the mountain followed by a long gradual descent down the valley floor. (Cycle Sport calls the first 132km of this stage “as aesthetically pleasing as a mountain stage can be.”)
As if this was not enough, then comes the Aubisque, via the Soulor, after which, quite clearly only for commercial / logistical reasons, the stage ends with a 60km run-in to the finish.
Stage 17
The stage chosen for the Etape du Tour 2010 and the last chance for a shoot-out at the Tour itself, with the finish at the top of the Tourmalet. The Tour is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the inclusion of the Pyrenees and so the Tourmalet, being the Daddy of them all, makes two star appearances.
After a rolling section to Oloron, the first of the three main climbs of the stage is the Marie Blanque. Although this climb is only 9km it has sections of 13% in it and many 10%’s too, despite an overall average of 8%.. The descent down to Bielle, with perfect Tarmac almost all the way, is a pure joy.
The next climb, up to the Soulor, comes after a decent section of valley-floor road which allows a bit of time to prpapre for the long drag of a climb. Never too steep, but on an energy-sapping surface, this will prove testing in the middle of the day.
Another superb descent from the Soulor into Argeles; a long ‘faux-plat’ to Luz-St Sauveur; then the final 17km climb of the whole Tour. The final battle for GC victory will happen here, if there is a battle to be fought…
Stage 18. The last foothills of the Pyrenees are gradually left behind as the route penetrates into the extensive man-made forest of Les Landes. The next 120km are totally flat, with long stretches of straight road through pine trees and maize fields.
The mix of pine resin and salt from the nearby Atlantic ocean in the air will cheer spirits when they might otherwise flag. Sprinters get their reward for not getting off their bikes in the mountains.
Stage 19
The route itself is almost totally flat, quite TV friendly – chateaux and vineyards – and will be the perfect backdrop for a potential clincher stage if things are still tight on GC. Doubt it though.
The finish line, at the end of a tree-lined boulevard by the Garonne in Pauillac could not be more appropriate for a TT ending. A 5***** way of ending a Grand Cru year for the TdF.
Stage 20
Paris. Usual thing.
If the racing can fulfill the potential the route offers, then 2010 could be a Grand Cru!
If you want to find out more about Tour de Force, head to www.tourdeforce.org.uk.
