|
 After rattling through cobbled sections and battling perilous
crosswinds in an extremely nervous opening block of racing this
year, the overall contenders will be relieved that the first week
will be much less treacherous.
"It looks that way but we can never be sure. The Tour de France is a
stressful race," warned defending champion Chris Froome of Britain.
"It will, however, be a week for the strong," said competition
director Thierry Gouvenou, who designs the course along with Tour
director Christian Prudhomme.
The sprinters will have more chances to shine with about seven stage
finishes designed for the speed merchants, between the first stage
ending at Utah Beach, the site of one of the D-Day landing
operations in 1944, to the traditional final dash up the
Champs-Elysees.
It means that a sprinter is highly likely to wear the yellow jersey
after the first stage.
"That makes me super excited obviously, hopefully this time it's
going to work out," said Briton Mark Cavendish, who missed out on
that opportunity in 2014.
There will be plenty of mountains too, with 28 climbs, three more
than this year, scattered over four chains -- the Massif Central,
Pyrenees, Alps and Jura. Four mountain stages will conclude with
uphill finishes.
The Tour has heavily favoured the pure climbers since 2012, when
all-rounder Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the race.
The Queen stage on Bastille Day will take the peloton from
Montpellier to the iconic Mont Ventoux, one of France's toughest
climbs -- a crippling 22.7-km ascent at an average gradient of 7.2
percent, where defending champion Chris Froome crushed his rivals in
2013.
[to top of second column] |
"We try, when possible, to have a significant stage on the 14th of
July (French national day)," Prudhomme told reporters.
While this year's race had a post-World War Two low single
individual time trial measuring just 14 km, the 2016 edition will
feature two arduous tests against the clock that are likely to suit
the overall contenders and Olympics-bound cyclists.
The first, a 37-km ride between Bourg-Saint-Andeol and La Caverne du
Pont-d'Arc, will feature two climbs (7 km at 5.5 percent and 3.5 km
at six percent) and the second, an undulating 17 km course from
Sallanches to Megeve.
"The first time trial will also be a good opportunity for the
specialists to test themselves ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
because the courses are similar," Prudhomme added.
While the mountain stages started after 10 days in 2015, the first
big test for the overall contenders will come as early as the fifth
stage in the form of a 216-km trek in the Massif Central featuring
three ascents.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
