Tour de France organisers have designed a highly treacherous route for the men’s 2022 edition which will feature rides in gusting winds, cobblestones and punishing mountain stages.
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.
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“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,” Tour deputy director Thierry Gouvenou said.
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.
🤩 Here is is, the 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚 of the #TDF2022!
🤩 Voici le 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙡 du #TDF2022 ! pic.twitter.com/4eccacs9Ip
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 14, 2021
Stage guide:
July 1. Stage 1 – Copenhagen – Copenhagen, individual time trial 13km
July 2. Stage 2 – Roskilde (Denmark) – Nyborg (Denmark), 199km
July 3. Stage 3 – Vejle (Denmark) – Sonderborg (Denmark), 182km
July 4. Transfer to France
July 5. Stage 4 – Dunkirk – Calais, 172km
July 6. Stage 5 – Lille – Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 155km
July 7. Stage 6 – Binche (Belgium) – Longwy, 220km
July 8. Stage 7 – Tomblaine – La Super Planche des Belles Filles, 176km
July 9. Stage 8 – Dole – Lausanne (Switzerland), 184km
July 10. Stage 9 – Aigle (Switzerland) – Chatel Les Portes du Soleil, 183km
July 11. Rest day
July 12. Stage 10 – Morzine – Megeve, 148km
July 13. Stage 11 – Albertville – Col du Granon, 149km
July 14. Stage 12 – Briancon – L’Alpe d’Huez, 166km
July 15. Stage 13 – Bourg d’Oisans – St Etienne, 193km
July 16. Stage 14 – St Etienne – Mende, 195km
July 17. Stage 15 – Rodez – Carcassonne, 200km
July 18. Rest day
July 19. Stage 16 – Carcassonne – Foix, 179km
July 20. Stage 17 – St Gaudens – Peyragudes, 130km
July 21. Stage 18 – Lourdes – Hautacam, 143km
July 22. Stage 19 – Castelnau-Magnoac – Cahors, 189km
July 23. Stage 20 – Lacapelle Marival – Rocamadour, individual time trial, 40km
July 24. Stage 21 – Paris La Defense Arena – Paris Champs Elysees, 112km.