The route across
Burgundy will serve up
plenty of challenges as
the peloton heads for
the Massif Central.
BURGUNDY HILLS
RAMPED UP!
It may not be in the high mountains,
but Stage 8 between Mâcon and Saint-
Étienne offers up a succession of hills
that will make for an exhausting day.
BY GILLES LE ROC’H
The striking
Cité du Design
in Saint-Étienne.
74 | TO U R
D E F R A NC E 2019
t’s Bastille Day
weekend, so the
Tour organisers
are looking to
maximise excitement! Stage
8 between Mâcon and
Saint-Étienne certainly looks
set to put on a show in the
vineyards of Burgundy as
the peloton heads south to
the Massif Central. Thierry
Gouvenou and his team have
looked for every hill they
can fi nd between the two
towns, and the 200km stage
features 3 800m of vertical
gain. There’s not a metre of
fl at! Riders who know the
roads around Belleville
from Paris–Nice will know
how severe the ramps on
these hills can be. There
should be some aggressive
racing, and perhaps a GC
surprise or two.
Gouvenou has chosen ‘the
way of the cross’, looping
riders up four passes: Croix
Montmain (6.1km at 7%),
Croix de Thel (4.1km at
8.1%), Croix Paquet (2.1km
at 9.7%) and Croix de Part
(4.9km at 7.9%). Between
Odenas at 38km and Sainte-
I
Foy-L’Argentière at 142km,
riders will need to dig deep
to stay in a good position
within the bunch as they
take on hill aft er hill.
Just north of Saint-
Étienne, they head for the
Côte d’Aveize (5.2km at
6.4%), which tops out the
day just under 60km from
the fi nish. But they won’t
have entered a comfort zone
just because there are no
more categorised climbs
on the menu.
Cyril Dessel, a former
wearer of the yellow jersey,
who hails from the Saint-
Étienne region, explains why:
“The organisers wanted to
avoid ending up on the climb
of the Croix de Chaubouret,
a classic 10km test where
Team Sky’s steamroller
worked wonders in Paris-
Nice in 2015. So they had
to look for all of the smaller
and little-used roads.
They sought out little hills
with steep gradients that
are off the beaten track.
They visited the Monts du
Lyonnais and decided to stay
in this area before dropping
quickly into Saint-Étienne.”
Norwegian sprinter
Alexander Kristoff was the
last stage winner at Saint-
Étienne in 2014. But it
seems more likely that a
puncheur such as Julian
Alaphilippe or Daryl Impey
will win this year. “The end of
the stage is really spicy and
tricky,” adds Dessel. “They
go up 1.5km hills on small
roads, then they’re back
on a main road, and then it
gets narrow again. All things
considered, there is a touch
of the Amstel Gold Race
about it. The favourites will
certainly do a recce of the
stage and nobody will fall
out of contention, but there
will be a constant fi ght for
position. The riders will have
to deal with lots of tension
and stress to come out of
it well. In the event of some
kind of misfortune, they’ll
need a good team that can
react quickly and return
them to the main action.” ●
PIEROT
THE ROUTE