THE ROUTE
Strategic test
Likewise, this year’s
Tourmalet summit fi nish
promises to be one of the
highlights of a ‘tour of high
peaks’. Stage 14 starts in
Tarbes and fi nishes 119km
later. In the middle, much
like in 2010, there’s the Col
de Soulor.
Tackled on the Ferrières
side, the Soulor’s 11.9km
ascent averages 7.3%. It’s
crested just aft er the halfway
point, and sets the peloton
a strategic test. It makes
the stage much more than
a straightforward climb,
and could well encourage
an outbreak of hostilities
between the favourites. In
fact, in 2010 it was at the very
moment when the peloton
started to climb Soulor that
the action kicked off .
The Soulor off ers an
ideal launch-pad for the
Tourmalet, which will be
tackled from the Luz-Saint-
Sauveur side. The pass
serves up just under 19km
Picturesque Pau hosts both La Course by
Le Tour and the Stage 13 individual time
trial on the centenary of the yellow jersey.
with an average gradient of
7.4%. The steepest ramp
is 13.5%, while the last
kilometre slopes at 10.5%.
To add even more spice,
from the Soulor, the route
descends to Argelés-Gazost
and then runs false fl at to
Pierreffi te-Nestalas and the
fi rst ramps of the Tourmalet.
These 20km of ups and
THE WOMEN TAKE ON PAU
For its sixth edition,
La Course by Le Tour
de France will visit the
Pyrenees for the fi rst time,
with a circuit race around
Pau on Friday 19 July.
The day marks the
centenary of the yellow
jersey’s fi rst appearance
and will provide a double
dose of tour drama –
Stage 13 of the main Tour
sees the men compete
in a 27km individual time
trial through this beautiful
Pyrenean city, one of the
Annemiek van Vleuten won the 2018 race with Anna van der
Breggen in 2nd and SA’s Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio in third.
downs provide ideal terrain
to blow the race apart
before the fi nal uphill haul.
The high-altitude Col de
Tourmalet, which tops out
at 2 115m, is offi cially the
Tour’s most used climb,
having featured 82 times.
This year it comes the day
aft er the Pau time trial
–27km on a demanding course. This will have an
impact when, inevitably,
the riders’ Wattage drops
on the fi nal ramps. The
result should be a major,
and very beautiful, battle
on its hairpin bends,
where the altitude makes
breathing diffi cult, and
the top climbers will be
giving their all. ●
most visited destinations
on the Tour.
The women will compete
on a version of the same
course, completing
fi ve laps to cover a total
distance of 121km. The
route will include a climb
over the Côte d’Esquillot,
making the circuit a
challenge but one that
could suit the one-day
Classics specialists and
possibly even the sprinters.
“The idea is that a course
like this should produce
an atmosphere akin to
championship racing,” says
race director Jean-Marc
Marino. “With a prestigious
victory up for grabs, it
should lead to a particularly
hectic race.”
La Course by Le Tour
de France started on the
Champs-Élysées fi ve years
ago. A few hours before the
traditional Tour fi nale, the
sport’s elite women racers
lined up for a contest in the same prestigious setting.
Marianne Vos of Holland
claimed the fi rst crown on
this sprinter’s course. The
following year, her young
compatriot Anna van
der Breggen topped the
podium, while Australia’s
Chloe Hosking won the
2016 edition in Paris.
The desire to pit the
women against every type
of Tour test then led to the
La Course peloton racing
in the high mountains
for the fi rst time, with a
fi nish on the Col d’Izoard
in 2017. The new format
also included a time trial
two days later in Marseille,
where a third Dutchwoman,
Annemiek van Vleuten,
inscribed her name on
the race’s palmarès. The
race returned to a one-day
format in 2018, where Van
Vleuten again won, this
time on Stage 10’s Annecy
to Le Grand-Bornand
course.
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