At noon the route of the 102nd Tour de France was presented at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. The Tour 2015, which starts in Utrecht, is scheduled from Saturday 4th of July until Sunday 26th of July. The Grand Départ takes place outside France for the 21st time, for the sixth time in the Netherlands. The Tour peloton will race through Belgium two days.
Stages in Belgium
The first stage with start and finish in Utrecht is a time trial of 14 kilometres. That’s the only individual time trial of this Tour. On Sunday 12th of July there is a team time trial of 28 kilometres. The second stage takes the riders from Utrecht to Neeltje Jans, that could mean echelons. Then the Tour visits Belgium. The stage on Monday 6th of July starts in Antwerp and finishes on the Mur de Huy, famous from the Flèche Wallonne.
Cobblestones
A day later the stage takes off in Seraing, near Liège. Most of the stage will be covered on Belgian soil. The finish lies in Cambrai, France. During this stage, with 221 kilometres the longest one, the riders have to pass seven cobblestone sections. There will be a total of 13.3 kilometres of cobblestones. The last sector, 2.3 kilometres long, is situated at ten kilometres from the end. In the next three stages the sprinters can have a go. The day before the team time trial there’s a finish on the Mûr de Bretagne, something for the punchers.
Pyrenees
La Pierre-Saint-Martin is new in the Tour. This is one of the five summit finishes. On Wednesday 15th of July the riders have to get over the Aspin and Tourmalet, the finish line is drawn in Cauterets. In the Pyrenees there is a finish at Plateau de Beille as well, where Jelle Vanendert won the fourteenth Tour stage in 2011. The Montée Laurent Jalabert in Mende gets a visit from the riders on Saturday 18th of July, another opportunity for punchers. Just before the second rest day the stage ends in Gap, a well-known Tour city.
Last days in the Alps
On Wednesday 22nd of July the third and last part of the Tour begins. Time to get to the Alps. First there’s a finish in Pra-Loup. On Friday it goes to La Toussuire and on Saturday the riders have to pass the 21 turns of Alpe d’Huez. That’s a short stage of 110 kilometres, but with the Télégraphe and Galibier on the course as well. The last stage traditionally finishes on the Champs Elysées in Paris.
Tricky start
Tony Gallopin: “The first nine days of the Tour 2015 are very tricky and can offer lots of spectacle. The wind could play a crucial role in the second stage through Zeeland and in the sixth stage to Le Havre. Just like last year there’s a cobblestone stage and there are several opportunities for punchers. The stages to Huy, Mûr de Bretagne and Mende suit me. After the first rest day there’s lots of climbing to do, it will be a very tough Tour.”
Goosebumps at Palais des Congrès
“We should definitely be able to be successful with the team. The past edition I won a stage and wore yellow one day, on the French national holiday. This was the first time I was live at the Tour presentation. When I saw the images of my stage win and myself in the yellow jersey it gave me goosebumps, especially with the music and the impressive Palais des Congrès as location.”
Four to six sprint opportunities
Marc Sergeant, manager Lotto Belisol: “Especially the fact that there are so few time trial kilometres is remarkable. That’s really different compared to the previous editions. There are stages for sprinters, punchers and climbers. I see four to six sprint opportunities, which doesn’t mean that it will each time be a peloton of 180 riders that goes to the finish line. It can also be a sprint of fifty. The sprint teams will have to make the race as well. The stages in the Pyrenees are tough, but I expect the last week in the Alps will be decisive. There will be a battle until the last Saturday.”
Too soon for selections
“It’s more than eight months before the Tour start, so it’s too soon to talk about selections. No decision has been made yet. It’s an option that Jurgen Van den Broeck rides the Tour, but it’s too early to speculate about that. It’s a realistic option that Tim Wellens will make his Tour début, but that will be without GC ambitions, like in this year’s Giro. There are lots of opportunities for attackers in the Tour of 2015, that should definitely suit Tim.”
Stages
Stage 1: Saturday 4th of July: Utrecht – Utrecht (14 km) (ITT)
Stage 2: Sunday 5th of July: Utrecht – Neeltje Jans (166 km)
Stage 3: Monday 6th of July: Antwerp – Huy (154 km)
Stage 4: Tuesday 7th of July: Seraing – Cambrai (221 km)
Stage 5: Wednesday 8th of July: Arras – Amiens Métropole (189 km)
Stage 6 : Thursday 9th of July : Abbeville – Le Havre (191 km)
Stage 7 : Friday 10th of July : Livarot – Fougères (190 km)
Stage 8: Saturday 11th of July: Rennes – Mûr de Bretagne (179 km)
Stage 9: Sunday 12th of July: Vannes – Plumelec (28 km) (TTT)
Rest day 1: Monday 13th of July: Pau
Stage 10: Tuesday 14th of July: Tarbes – La Pierre-Saint-Martin (167 km)
Stage 11 : Wednesday 15th of July : Pau – Cauterets Vallée de Saint-Savin (188 km)
Stage 12: Thursday 16th of July: Lannemezan – Plateau de Beille (195 km)
Stage 13: Friday 17th of July: Muret – Rodez (200 km)
Stage 14: Saturday 18th of July: Rodez – Mende (178 km)
Stage 15: Sunday 19th of July: Mende – Valence (182 km)
Stage 16: Monday 20th of July: Bourg-de-Péage – Gap (201 km)
Rest day 2: Tuesday 21st of July: Gap
Stage 17: Wednesday 22nd of July: Digne-les-Bains – Pra-Loup (161 km)
Stage 18 : Thursday 23rd of July : Gap – Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (185 km)
Stage 19 : Friday 24th of July : Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – La Toussuire Les Sybelles (138 km)
Stage 20 : Saturday 25th of July : Modane Valfréjus – Alpe d’Huez (110 km)
Stage 21: Sunday 26th of July: Sèvres – Paris Champs Elysées (107 km)
