2010 Tour de France and L’Etape Routes Announced – my comments

It’s always exciting in October because not only is the Tour de France route announced, but the L’Etape du Tour stage is announced too! Tres excitement! You can see how much fun we got up to at the 2009 Tour and L’Etape here. Interestingly we don’t go into Germany, Switzerland, Italy or Spain this year – all of which were visited last year. We stick to Belgium, France and of course Rotterdam for the prologue. We also hit some cobblestones for 13km this Tour which brings a touch of the Classics to Le Tour. The 60km time trial will be very good for Cadel.

There are 4 High Mountain Stages in a row, from stages 14-17 which is surprising and will break a few people I think. We have 2 ascents up the Tourmalet which is very interesting.

So I’m really excited that the L’Etape du Tour is taking in the Tourmalet next year. Unfortunately the dumkopf organisers have again put it on a bloody high mountains stage instead of on a rest day, but what can you do. You can read about our 2009 L’Etape assault here.

Anyway, NOW is the time to start planning a tour. Organised tours are a good way to make this happen if you want convenience and don’t mind the extra cost, but if you want to do this on a budget, you should definitely check out the very extensive Guide to Cycling Through France (70+ pages) after our 2009 trip. Check it out here.

Here’re my thoughts on the high mountain/marquee stages.

Stage 8: Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz – 189 km
Some nice countryside, especially into Morzine. Nothing too crazy with 6-7% grades over ~14km. I don’t think anything out of the ordinary will happen here. Could a breakaway succeed? Could Gerrans emulate 2008’s Tour and 2009 Vuelta efforts?

Stage 9: Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – 204 km
What a CRACKER!! Four major climbs, with I think from memory 2 HCs. Anything could happen here, although, I did say this last year with some of the Pyrenean stages that ended up being fizzers, with all the leaders finishing together. The tour visited the Colombiere and Saises last year on Stage 17 into Le Grand- Bornand. This could be a cracker and one to watch for sure. We stayed in St Jean de Maurienne in 2009. Maccas has free wifi, the campground is good, and there’s a LOT of climbing around, see the post card below.

• Km 46 – Col de la Colombière – 16,5 km climb to 6,7 %
• Km 71 – Col des Aravis – 7,6 km climb to 5,9 %
• Km 97 – Col des Saisies – 14,4 km climb to 5,1 %
• Km 172,5 – Col de la Madeleine – 25,4 km climb to 6,1 %

Stage 14 – Revel Ax-3 to Domaines – 184 km
Some nice grades around 8% over some long distances might make things interesting, though most of the key contenders should have ok legs still.

• Km 155,5 – Port de Pailhères – 15,1 km climb to 8,1 %
• Km 184 – Ax-3 Domaines – 7,9 km climb to 8,3 %

Stage 15 – Pamiers to Bagnères-de-Luchon – 187 km
Another longish stage with some decent climbs, though once again nothing too out of control. The tour so far has avoided any giants like Croix de Fer, Galibier, Izoard, Bonnet-Restafond and Iseran.

• Km 105 – Col du Portet d’Aspet – 5,8 km climb to 6,8 %
• Km 126,5 – Col des Ares – 6,1 km climb to 4,7 %
• Km 166 – Port de Balès – 19,2 km climb to 6,2 %

Stage 16: Bagnères-de-Luchon to Pau – 196 km
Undeniably the Queen stage of the tour. I count 2 HCs and 2 Cat 1s (it could be 3 HCs and 1 Cat 1). A monster day in the saddle. This is going to be carnage. My advice is park up on Peyresourde or Tourmalet, watch them struggle past, then hightail it into town to a TV to watch the final ascent up the horrible Aubsique. This is tiger country! Nothing incredibly steep, just very draining.

• Km 11 – Col de Peyresourde – 11 km climb to 7,4 %
• Km 42,5 – Col d’Aspin – 12,3 km climb to 6,3 %
• Km 72 – Col du Tourmalet par La Mongie – 17,1 km climb to 7,4 %
• Km 128,5 – Col du SOulor – 19 km climb to 5,3 %
• Km 138 – Col d’Aubisque par le col du Soulor – 5,4 km climb to 6 %

Stage 17: Pau to Col du Tourmalet – 174 km
Here we have a second ascent up the Tourmalet. I’m scratch my head on this one. Why are we doing this twice. What about the Hautacam? As you can see, it’s not that far away. If Cadel is close after this stage, we have a 60km TT for him to smash. If he’s not, it’s all over, as any attack by him would be covered.

View France09 – Climbs in a larger map

• Km 57,5 – Col de Maris-Blanque – 9,5 km climb to 7,5 %
• Km 118,5 – Col du Soulor par Ferrières – 22 km climb to 4,9 %
• Km 174 – Col du Tourmalet par Barèges – 19 km climb to 7,4 %

Tagged as: 2010 TdF Route

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