The Criterium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse have traditionally been the preparation races for the Tour de France but for several years, the mountainous Route du Sud in the Pyrenees has offered an alternative path with less stress and attention. The race has mostly been dominated by Frenchmen but as it has become the preferred option for Nairo Quintana, it has now grown in status and in 2016 it will again receive much more attention than it has done in the past.

 

It has been a general rule that climbers have always prepared for the Tour de France at either the Criterium du Dauphiné or the Tour de Suisse. There has been lots of discussion about which one to prefer but for the international stars, there has never been much doubt that one of the two races serve as a key part of a successful build-up for La Grande Boucle.

 

In the shadow of the WorldTour races, the small Route du Sud in the Pyrenees has offered another option. Held in the same week as the Tour de Suisse, it includes many of the most famous Tour de France climbs and so is an obvious way to prepare for the biggest race in the world. The race is shorter and receives much less attention, meaning that it is a less stressful option.

 

However, the race has mostly been chosen by Frenchmen who have either used it as their only preparation or done it on the back of the Dauphiné. For international riders, it has mainly been an event preferred by riders coming from the Giro who need a few days to get back into racing but don’t need the strains of a long, hard WorldTour race.

 

Since last year, the race has suddenly changed in status. In 2015, Giro champion Alberto Contador used it to get the racing rhythm back and as Nairo Quintana who never needs much racing before his big objectives, preferred it as his only pre-Tour de France race after his training in Colombia, it suddenly became a big event with international TV coverage on Eurosport. While Contador has returned to his traditional preparation, Quintana liked the approach and unlike all his key rivals, he has again opted for the low-key build of for the Tour. This means that the race will again receive lots of attention and Eurosport will again provide live coverage of the event.

 

The race was created in 1977 under the name of Tour du Tarn before being renamed Tour Midi-Pyrenees in 1982. It got its current name in 1988 but the format has never changed. It always takes place over four or five days during the same week as the Tour de Suisse and has had lots of famous winners. Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, Francesco Moser, Stephen Roche, Ronan Pensec, Laurent Dufaux and Laurent Jalabert all feature on the list of winners and in recent years, it has been won by riders like Michel Rogers, Thomas Voeckler, Oscar Sevilla, Dan Martin, Przemyslaw Niemiec, Vasil Kiryienka, David Moncoutie, Nairo Quintana, Nicolas Roche and Alberto Contador.

 

The list of winners speaks volumes about the nature of the race. Held in the Pyrenees and including some of the most mythical mountains, it is a race for climbers and as there has rarely been a time trial, it has been one of the few stage races that the pure mountain goats can target. The stage has usually had three rolling sprint stages and one big stage in the high mountains where the GC has been decided.

 

That was the case in 2015 when Contador and Quintana went head to head in a highly anticipated battle. Contador was unable to drop Quintana on the Port de Bales despite repeated attacks but he got rid of the Colombian on the descent and then rode to a solo win in the queen stage. He stayed safe in the final stage and won the race overall, with Quintana and Pierre Latour rounding out the podium.

 

The course

As said, the race has had a fixed format with three rolling sprint stages and one big queen stage in the Pyrenees. This year the organizers have opted for some innovation as they have decided to include a time trial on the second day which will offer the riders a sprint stage in the morning and the race against the clock in the afternoon. This will change the dynamic of the race slightly as it will favour the more versatile riders over the pure climbers who have traditionally had a rare chance to win a big stage race without having to do any time trialling. On the other hand, it makes it a more complete test ahead of the Tour de France.

 

 

Stage 1

The first stage has usually been for the sprinters and that won’t change in 2016. The 196km stage will bring the riders from Saint-Pons-De-Thomère to Bessières and can be split into two parts. The first part takes place on the outskirts of the Pyrenees and includes early category 2 and category 3 climbs. However, as the riders leave the mountains, the terrain becomes completely flat. The stage ends with one lap of a flat 25.3km finishing circuit.

 

The first part of the stage is tough but as the pure sprinters never head to the Route du Sud, the fast guys here can all climb. Bryan Coquard and Arnaud Demare both hope to achieve lots of success this week and this is their first chance. Direct Energie and FDJ will make sure that this stage comes down to a big bunch sprint.

 

 

Stage 2

The main novelty of this year’s race is the fact that there will be two half-stages on the second day. In the morning, the riders will tackle 92.4km from Saint-Pierre-de-Trivisy to Albi and it should be another stage for the sprinters. There’s a category 2 climb at the 30.8km mark as the riders do a small loop around the start city but from there it’s a gradual descent to Albi where the race has a flat finish on the motor circuit.

 

With a time trial coming up in the afternoon, the GC riders hope for an easy stage and they are likely to get what they wish. This is another opportunity for Coquard and Demare and the winner of the first stage will be keen to build on his momentum and defend the leader’s jersey. Short half-stages can sometimes be won by a breakaway but this should be one for the sprinters.

 

 

 

Stage 3

It’s not a novelty that there is a time trial at the Route du Sud – in fact the race had one every year until 2006 – but the last time trial was held in 2010. Furthermore, the recent time trials have been mountain time trials so it’s a long time since the TT specialists have had a chance in this race. They will get one in the Friday’s second half stage which will see the riders cover 13.4km around the city of Albi. However, it is definitely not a flat affair as there are two pretty hard climbs in the first half. The second half is for specialists as it is completely flat and ends on the motor circuit in Albi.

 

The two climbs mean that it is a pretty tough time trial which is much more suited to versatile riders and stage race specialists than powerful time triallists. The distance is relatively short so the time gaps won’t be massive but it will give the first indication of who’s going to win the race. The hilly course suits Nairo Quintana very well and he will be keen to use it as an important test ahead of the Tour de France.

 

 

 

Stage 4

The queen stage has often come on the third day and that will be the case in 2016 too. The stage usually includes some of the most famous Pyrenean climbs and this year it is the Col du Tourmalet that will be the most notable climb of the race. The 184.9km will bring the riders from Saint-Gaudens to a summit finish in Val d’Azun – Couraduque. The first part is lumpy with two smaller climbs while all the major mountains are gathered in the finale. First the riders will tackle the mighty Col du Tourmalet whose top comes at the 123.3km mark. Then they will descend to the bottom of the category 2 climb of Col des Borderes. A short descent leads to the bottom of the final ascent, the category 1 Col du Couraduque (15.7km, 5.81%).

 

Unlike last year, the queen stage has a summit finish and this should make it easier to make a difference than it was in 2015. The race is likely to explode already on the Col du Tourmalet and if he is on a great day, Quintana may ride away already here in an attempt to emulate the long-distance attack that saw him take one of his first major stage race wins here in 2012. The final climb is not very hard but it will still do some damage at the end of a tough stage that is suited to pure climbers. This is the big Tour de France test for Quintana who will be expected to crush the opposition.

 

 

 

Stage 5

The sprinters have often had the final say at the Route du Sud and they should again find the final stage to their liking. Sunday’s stage is a circuitrace that will see the riders cover 8 laps of a 17.6km circuit around the city of Gers-Astarac Arros en Gascogne for an overall distance of 154.8km. It includes an early uncategorized ascent and the small category 4 climb of Cote de Moncassin close to the finish 4.5km from the finish and then it’s a downhill run to the line.

 

The final climb is a perfect launch pad for a late attack but with big-name sprinters like Arnaud Demare and Bryan Coquard here, it is likely that we will have a bunch sprint. This kind of short circuit race can be pretty aggressive though so it won’t be easy to control. For the GC riders, it is all about staying safe and making sure that nothing changes on the final day of the race.

 

 

 

The favourites

Held in the Pyrenees, the Route du Sud has always been a race for the climbers. As it has not had a time trial in recent years, the GC has always come exclusively down to the queen stage where the best climbers have battled it out for the stage win and the overall victory.

 

This year the inclusion of a time trial will add to the complexion of the race and will put some of the pure climbers at a disadvantage. However, it is by no means a flat affair and should be more suited to stage race specialists than big time triallists. That doesn’t mean that the climbers won’t lose time here and even though the queen stage is by far the most important, the time trial will definitely play a role, especially as the final climb in stage 4 is not the hardest mountain in the Pyrenees.

 

What characterizes the field of contenders is that they are almost all climbers and there aren’t many great time triallists here. It will be a bit of a lottery to predict how most of them will fare in the individual test as most of them always finish far back in the time trials.

 

There’s no real reason to discuss who’s going to win the race. It would be one of the biggest surprises of the entire season if Nairo Quintana doesn’t win this race. He may not have raced since the Tour de Romandie but with the Tour de France starting in just two weeks, he is close to his peak condition. He has been training in Colombia and he always hits the ground running when he returns to Europe. Last year he followed the same script and rode to second in this race, clearly preferring not to go too deep.

 

Last year Quintana held something back in the queen stage and he will cautiously gauge his effort. In 2016, however, there will be no Alberto Contador and as he is by far the best climber, he should easily win the queen stage without having to go too far into the red. Among the GC contenders, he is even the best time triallist, especially on a course like this, as he has done some great hilly time trials this year. He is even very likely to win both the mountain stage and the TT. His team is not the strongest but Quintana should be superior and should easily win this race.

 

His biggest rival could be Arnold Jeannesson. The Frenchman was once a talented climber but disappeared into anonymity at FDJ. Since he joined Cofidis during the winter, he has been stronger than ever and he was really on fire in the spring where he was one of the best climbers at Paris-Nice.

 

Jeannesson has only done two races since his small post-spring break and he was not on fire in the Coupe de France races in Brittany. However, those races were two weeks ago and didn’t suit him at all. As he is preparing for the Tour, he should be a lot stronger now and as a pure climber, the race suits him really well. He is definitely not a time triallist and he will lose time to Quintana in stage 3. However, he should be able to gain on most of his rivals and if one adds his strong climbing skills, he stands out as a strong contender.

 

Hugh Carthy has been one of the revelations this year. The Brit surprised the entire world by finishing ninth at the Volta a Catalunya which probably had the best field of any of the spring races. He went on to win the Vuelta Asturias in May and now he has set his sights on this race as his big summer goal. He is a pure climber and has proved that he can challenge the best in the hardest terrain. The big problem for him is the TT which will cost him a lot of time as it did at last year’s USA Pro Challenge.

 

One of the big question marks is Sergey Firsanov. The Russian was on fire in the spring and was on track for a top 10 finish at the Giro until he suffered a drop in form in the second week. He bounced back with some great performances in the third week and ended the race reasonably well. It is always a bit of a lottery for riders coming from the Giro and no one knows how he will be handling his return to racing. If he has recovered from the Giro, he will be one of the best climbers here and even though he will lose time in the TT, he should be one of the best in GC.

 

Carthy is not the only Caja Rural card. The Spanish team also have Sergio Pardilla and David Arroyo. Pardilla is gradually rebuilding his form after last year’s horror crash and has been riding better and better. He was second behind Carthy in Asturias and should be even better here. Arroyo has not been at his best in 2015 and the early part of 2016 but he has been getting stronger. He was second in Turkey and fourth in Castilla y Leon but he hasn’t raced for a while so his form is uncertain. Like Carthy, Pardilla and Arroyo will lose time in the TT.

 

Cofidis have a formidable group of climbers with lots of cards and they will try to put Quintana and Movistar under pressure. In addition to Jeannesson, they have Stephane Rossetto, Luis Angel Mate, Yoann Bagot and Nicolas Edet. The latter three showed good form in the recent Tour de Luxembourg. Edet is more of a puncheur so he will probably come up a bit short in this terrain but Mate and Bagot should find the long climbs to their liking. Especially, the Spaniard has impressed on several occasions and should be one of the best here. On paper, Rossetto is probably the best climber and he is also a very good time triallist. However, he has been far from his best form until now.

 

Like Firsanov, Matteo Busato is coming from the Giro and so his form is very uncertain. He has had a breakthrough season but the fatigue could be too much at this point. Furthermore, he is not a pure climber.

 

Fortuneo-Vital Concept have Eduardo Sepulveda and Francis Mourey. The former is their Tour de France captain but has just returned from a big break after a bad crash in the sprint. On paper, he would probably be Quintana’s biggest rival as he can both time trial and climb but we doubt that he has the form to be really competitive yet. Mourey is a solid climber and he looked strong in Luxembourg.

 

Euskadi have Garikoitz Bravo and Radio Popular are here with Federico Figuiredo and David Rodrigues. They have all been among the best climbers in the mountainous Spanish stage races and should again be with the best here.

 

Thomas Voeckler is a former double winner of this race but he won’t win it again. He still climbs well but the high mountains are too much for him nowadays. He wasn’t at his best in the Dauphiné but he should be better here and a good GC result cannot be ruled out.

 

Finally, we will point to Delio Fernandez. The Spaniard has been one of the best in the Volta a Portugal for several year but he has not been on fire in 2016. He seems to be getting stronger and unlike most of the other GC riders, he is a good time triallist. However, the queen stage could be a bit too hard.

 

***** Nairo Quintana

**** Arnold Jeannesson, Hugh Carthy

*** Sergey Firsanov, Sergio Pardilla, David Arroyo, Luis Angel Mate, Stephane Rossetto

** Yoann Bagot, Matteo Busato, Eduardo Sepulveda, Francis Mourey, Garikoitz Bravo, Federico Figueiredo, David Rodrigues, Thomas Voeckler, Delio Fernandez

* Daniel Martinez, Nicolas Edet, Theo Vimpere, Guillaume Levarlet, Mikel Bizkarra, Ricardo Vilela, Pierrick Fedrigo, Alexey Rybalkin, Quentin Pacher, Remy Di Gregorio, Julien El Fares, Yann Guyot