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The race will start with a 13km individual time trial in
Copenhagen before the second stage takes the peloton over the
18km Great Belt bridge. "It's windy 364 days a year, here," Tour
director Christian Prudhomme told reporters on Thursday.
"This Tour can be lost as early as the second day."
Those who get past the three-day opening block in Denmark and
fourth stage through the Flanders hills must cope with the fifth
stage through cobbled sectors between Lille and Arenberg.
That is when light climbers are expected to suffer on a day that
could be marred by crashes and mechanicals due to the tricky
terrain which usually favours one-day race specialists.
"To go through these stages and hope to win the Tour you will
need to be a versatile rider and have a strong team at your
disposal," said Tour deputy director Thierry Gouvenou.
The first test for climbers will come on the seventh stage with
the first of five summit finishes at the top of the Planche des
Belles Filles, where this year's defending champion Tadej
Pogacar effectively claimed his first title in 2020 by upsetting
fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic in the final time trial.
Pogacar, who hammered his rivals in the mountains in the last
edition, has also proved he is a strong one-day classic rider,
having won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Giro di Lombardia
Monument classics this year and, given the nature of the route,
it is hard to see beyond him for a Tour favourite.
The race will reach its highest point at the top of the
lung-busting ascent to the Col du Galibier, 2,607 metres above
sea level, on the way to a summit finish at the Col du Granon
(2,413 metres) after a punishing 11.3km effort at an average
gradient of 9.3%.
The 12th stage starts from Briancon and ends atop the iconic
Alpe d'Huez (13.8km at 8.1%), taking the same route as the 1986
Tour when five-time winner Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond
crossed the line hand-in-hand for a famous one-two.
The Frenchman had said he would help his La Vie Claire team win
the race a year after benefiting from the American's help in the
previous edition.
"Both should be on the Tour for this stage next year," Prudhomme
said of the former riders.
After two brutal stages in the Pyrenees, the race will be
completed with a 40km individual time trial in Southwestern
France and the mostly processional ride to the Champs Elysees in
Paris.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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