Today Tour de France organizers ASO have announced the route for the 2015 edition of La Grande Boucle and it shapes up to be a race tailor-made for the climbers. While the time triallists will only have 14km of individual and 28km of team time trialling to make a difference, 5 big mountaintop finishes and 3 summit finishes on short will provide the uphill specialists lots of terrain to excel.

 

After today’s presentation of the route for the 2015 Tour de France, the teams of the overall contenders may have to change their plans slightly. Some of them may decide to skip a few wind tunnel sessions and instead include more recons of the mountain stages of this year’s Grande Boucle.

 

That would be a logical decision based on the course that will be the scene of the battle in France next summer. While the 2012 edition was famously known for its many time trialling kilometres and few summit finishes, the 2015 race is the complete opposite.

 

The only individual time trial comes already on the opening day and at just 14km in length, it will not be a stage that will open up massive time gaps. The only other time trialling comes on stage 9 when the riders tackle an unusually late 28km team time trial in Bretagne.

 

As opposed to this, the climbers will have lots of chances to make a difference. Following the tradition of alternating directions, the Tour will go around France in an anticlockwise direction, meaning that the riders will tackle the Pyrenees first, and already the first mountain range provides significant challenge. Two big mountaintop finishes on the new climb of La Pierre-St-Martin and the famous Plateau de Beille – whose winner often goes on to win the race overall – will be separated by a tough stage that includes the Col d’Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet.

 

The decisive stages, however, come at the end of the race when the riders will tackle four successive days in the Alps. Mountaintop finishes in Pra-Loup, La Toussuire and Alpe d’Huez and a tough stage without a summit finish mean that much can change right until the penultimate stage where the riders will return to the famous switchbacks of the Alpe. Next morning the riders will travel to Paris where the race ends with the traditional sprint stage on the Champs-Elysees.

 

In general, the race can be split into two. The first week is surprisingly challenging and is made up of a few stages and lots of small classics. After the opening time trial in the Dutch city of Utrecht, the riders face an extremely nervous day along the Dutch coast in the famous Zeeland province where the wind has often wreaked havoc on the peloton. One day later, the Ardennes specialists will come to the fore when the riders go to Belgium to finish on the famous 1.3km Mur de Huy whose 9.6% gradient creates a fascinating scene for the finish of the Fleche Wallonne classic.

 

One day later the cobbles make a surprisingly early return when the riders travel from the Belgian city of Seraing into France for a finish in Cambrais. No less than 7 sectors of pavé with a total length of 13.3km will provide the scene of another exciting battle just one year after Lars Boom won an epic stage over similar surface last summer.

 

In general, there won’t be many opportunities for the sprinters and the fast men have to make the most of the first week. After the cobbles stage, the riders tackle three flat stages that are all destined to end in bunch sprints but the riders will have to stay aware of stage 6 which finishes with a difficult run along the coast to the city of Le Havre.

 

Stage 8 sees the race return to the Mur de Bretagne where Cadel Evans beat Alberto Contador in an uphill sprint before going on to win the 2011 Tour de France. Again the 2km climb with an average gradient of 6.9% will be the scene of the finish, meaning that it is another day for the Ardennes specialists. The first week ends with the 28km team time trial that comes very late in the race, meaning that the race breaks the UCI rules stipulating that team time trials shall always take place in the first third of the race.

 

A long transfer will bring the riders to the foot of the Pyrenees where a rest day in Pau precedes the first big mountain stage. A mostly flat stage ends with the first summit finish on the new climb of La-Pierre-St-Martin. One day later, the riders tackle a difficult route through the Pyrenees where the famous Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet precede a gradual uphill drag to the line in Cauterets. The biggest stage in the Pyrenees, however, is stage 12 which brings the riders over the Col do Portet d’Aspet, Col de Core and Col de Lers before they finish on the famous climb to Plateau de Beille where Jelle Vanendert won a stage in 2011 and where the winner has very often taken the overall victory 2.

 

The journey from the Pyrenees and the Alps kicks off with a stage into Rodez where the riders have often gone up a small category 4 climb in the finale, with Alexandre Vinkourov taking a solo win in 2010. One day later the riders return to the famous 3km Laurent Jalabert climb in Mende where Joaquim Rodriguez beat Alberto Contador in two-rider sprint in the 2011 edition of the race. It’s the third finish on a short, steep climb in the race.

 

The next day will offer the pure sprinters their only real chance between stage 8 and the finish in Paris when the stage to Valence is expected to end in a bunch sprint. It is followed by a stage finishing in Gap where escapees traditionally prevail.

 

The second rest day will be held in Gap where the riders can prepare themselves for a difficult final week in the Alps. First they will return to the famous climb to Pra-Loup where Bernard Thevenet laid the foundations for the dethroning of Eddy Merckx. Before reaching the short climb to the finish, the riders will tackle another two climbs, most notably the Col d’Allos which has a pretty difficult descent. The next stage should be one for a breakaway as the riders tackle an undulating route in the Alps that include the Col du Glandon but has a downhill finish after a short climb in the finale.

 

The race will be decided on two short, very hard stages on the final Friday and Saturday of the race. First the riders will tackle the 138km from St-Jean-de-Maurienne to a summit finish in La Toussuire where Pierre Rolland won a stage in 2012 and where Chris Froome famously attacked teammate and race leader Bradley Wiggins. Before getting to the final climb, the riders will go up the famous Col de la Croix de Fer.

 

On the penultimate day, the riders will be tested on a copy of the stage that created a great spectacle in 2011. At just 110km, the stage from Modane to Alpe d’Huez is pretty short but there are very few flat sections. The riders will tackle both the Col du Telegraphe and the Col du Galibier before they descend to the bottom of the famous climb. Again Rolland will have good memories of this stage as he won it three years ago before going on to win the white jersey in his breakthrough year. As usual, the race ends with a short sprint stage in Paris where the circuit will again go all the way around the Arc de Triomphe as it has done in the two latest editions.

 

Another interesting change is the fact that the bonus seconds will return to the race for the first time since 2007, albeit only for the first week. Furthermore, the rules for the points competition will change to avoid a repeat of this year’s scenario where overall winner Peter Sagan didn’t win a single stage. More details are set to be announced later.

 

With today’s presentation, the courses for both the Giro and the Tour have been unveiled. The riders now only need to know more about the Vuelta before they can finalize their grand tour plans. The route for the Spanish race is expected to be announced in January.

 

Tour de France 2015

Stage 1, July 4: Utrecht - Utrecht, 13.7 km (ITT)

Stage 2, July 5: Utrecht - Zélande, 166 km

Stage 3, July 6: Anvers - Huy, 154 km

Stage 4, July 7: Seraing - Cambrai, 221 km

Stage 5, July 8: Arras - Amiens, 189 km

Stage 6, July 9: Abbevilles - Le Havre, 191 km

Stage 7, July 10: Livarot - Fougères, 190 km

Stage 8, July 11: Rennes - Mûr de Bretagne, 179 km

Stage 9, July 12: Vannes - Plumelec, 28 km (TTT)

 

Rest day, July 13

 

Stage 10, July 14: Tarbes - La Pierre Saint Martin, 167 km

Stage 11, July 15: Pau - Cauterets, 188 km

Stage 12, July 16: Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille, 195 km

Stage 13, July 17: Muret - Rodez, 200 km

Stage 14, July 18: Rodez - Mende, 178 km

Stage 15, July 19: Mende - Valence, 182 km

Stage 16, July 20: Bourg-De-Péage - Gap, 201 km

 

Rest day, July 21

 

Stage 17, July 22: Digne-les-Bains - Pra-Loup, 161 km

Stage 18, July 23: Gap - Saint-Jean De-Maurienne, 185 km

Stage 19, July 24: Saint-Jean De-Maurienne - La Toussuire, 138 km

Stage 20, July 25: Modane - L’Alpe d’Huez, 110 km

Stage 21, July 26: Sèvres - Paris, 107 km