12 | Cycling World
2017 Tour de France The Road Just Got Steeper
Key Points
- Christian Prudhomme unveils the route by Phototheque ASO
- 30 years after the 1987 Grand Départ in Berlin , the Tour will start in the German city of Düsseldorf and later head to Belgium and Luxembourg
- The 2017 course will feature France ' s five mountain ranges . The Izoard will host the last summit finish
- Exceptional locations such as Marseille ' s Stade Vélodrome and the Grand Palais in Paris will roll out the red carpet for the peloton
The course of the 104th Tour de France ( 1 – 23 July , 2017 ) stands out for its atypical mountain stages . Although there will be fewer climbs than usual , there are steeper gradients
Vosges , Jura , Pyrenees , Central Massif and Alps — the 2017 Tour de France will tackle France ' s five major mountain ranges in this order . 1992 was the last time this mountainous Grand Slam was in the race . The queen stage will tackle the Jura mountains between Nantua and Chambéry ( Col de la Biche , Grand Colombier and Mont du Chat , for a total altitude gain of 4,600m ); pretenders to the crown will go head-to-head in the Pyrenees in a 100 km stage from Saint-Girons to Foix ; sections approaching a 20 % gradient will provide fertile ground for attacks on La Planche des Belles Filles and Peyragudes ; and the race will be decided in a spectacular climax on the Izoard , a fabled climb which will set the scene for the concluding mountain showdown in its first stage finish ever .
Mountain goats , however , will not have all the fun , as they fight for the yellow jersey in a time trial on the Mediterranean coast , with the finish line right in Marseille ' s Vélodrome stadium . Less than 24 hours later , the peloton will be in Montgeron — start of the 1903 Tour — for the final stage , which will see them ride indoors in the prestigious Grand Palais . The Champs-Élysées will see a fast-man apotheosis to cap a series of sprints which will start in Liège . Time to settle old scores …
La Course : The Women Take on the Izoard
Since 2014 , the Tour de France has leveraged its fame and know-how to support women ' s cycling by organising La Course , a prestigious event for the world elite , which has been held three times on the Champs-Élysées finishing circuit in Paris . This fourth edition will send them on a mountain quest : just
- Pinot , Bardet and Froome seem pleased by Phototheque ASO
a few hours before the men ' s peloton , they will light the first fireworks in the final 66 kilometres of the stage from Briançon to the Izoard . Sprinters will be nowhere to be seen on the final ascent , described by Jacques Goddet as " a harrowing trial which establishes the boundary between difficult and terrifying ". The women will bring back memories of riders such as Gino Bartali , Fausto Coppi , Louison Bobet and Bernard Thévenet as they tackle the 10 kilometres leading to Casse Déserte , which boast an average gradient of over 9 %.