2011 Tour de France start

[craig1985]

Usually in the next month or so, we will find out the Grand depart for the 2011 Tour de France. Any idea on the dates for the announcement and who is the favourite to get the nod from ASO? I saw something about ASO wanting to go to Corsica in 2013, but as an outsider, to me it seems as wise as Unipublic sending the Vuelta through the Basque Country (which is something they haven't done for years).

 

[al_pacino]

Maybe not this time but Dubai will be in with a shout(unless I'm forgetting something).

 

[Anonymous]

I would love to see the Tour de France start in France in 2011. Especially since 2007, 2009 and 2010 were/are all foreign opening days, we are probably due for a French start...

Personally, I think Prudhomme should do something outrageous and have an ITT from Bedion to the Ventoux summit as the opening stage. It's time to spice up the tour. The harder, the better!

 

[valentius borealis]

Personally, I think Prudhomme should do something outrageous and have an ITT from Bedion to the Ventoux summit as the opening stage. It's time to spice up the tour. The harder, the better!

What about an ITT from La Mongie to Pic du Midi?

 

[hfer07]

Dubai is being considered, as well as Morocco. Prudhomme said he's received bids to start the Tour in Tokyo, Moscow & Glasgow...

 

[auscyclefan94]

1989 tt situation to france on the final stage. Fignon V Lemond. Maybe it might be AC V AS or seomeone else.

 

[Anonymous]

1989 tt situation to france on the final stage. Fignon V Lemond. Maybe it might be AC V AS or seomeone else.

C'mon aussie, we all know it will be CE vs LA in the final TT...

Actually, I find the last stage of the tour very interesting. I reckon a final-day TT is awesome, becoz the slow ride to paris is just plain boring, but, it means the sprinters don't get their "reward" for getting over the mountains, which is why I like the sprint to the Champs Elysee.

I think a good outcome would be a two-stage day on the final sunday. A short TT (2 laps of the champs elysee) in the morning. Followed by an 8 lap GC-neutralised crit in the afternoon. Of course, that way, the tour designers would be more likely to include a decisive TT in the second week, becoz let's face it, the second week of a tour is nothing without a decent TT like in 06, 07 and 08

 

[gatete]

I will like to see a Alpe d'huez TT again, will like to see AC going for the Record

 

[auscyclefan94]

C'mon aussie, we all know it will be CE vs LA in the final TT...

Actually, I find the last stage of the tour very interesting. I reckon a final-day TT is awesome, becoz the slow ride to paris is just plain boring, but, it means the sprinters don't get their "reward" for getting over the mountains, which is why I like the sprint to the Champs Elysee.

I think a good outcome would be a two-stage day on the final sunday. A short TT (2 laps of the champs elysee) in the morning. Followed by an 8 lap GC-neutralised crit in the afternoon. Of course, that way, the tour designers would be more likely to include a decisive TT in the second week, becoz let's face it, the second week of a tour is nothing without a decent TT like in 06, 07 and 08

ok i will admit it. The perfect scenario would be CE v LA and CE is behind by a minute and then does the fastest av speed tdf itt and wins the tour. That would be sweet. I agree we need an itt in the second week though the stage to mende in the second week could be very intersting.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I see that everyone has, so far, failed to grasp the point that I assume Craig was trying to make.
In drawing a comparision between the Basque Country, Corsica, and the wisdom of taking GTs there, he was making the issue one of potential terrorism.

Both areas have factions fighting for independence and have resorted to violence, in the past.

The Coriscan Independence movement appears to have fizzled out, in recent years.
I'll guess that's why Prudhomme is now considering taking the race there.
The island offers truly great and varied terrain for cycle racing, besides being one of the most stunningly beautiful European destinations.

I hope he goes for it.

 

[Bluebeard]

Maybe not this time but Dubai will be in with a shout(unless I'm forgetting something).

Al. Al!

Everybody knows that you do not talk of Dubai or Qeter as an option for le Grand Départ until that special week in February when Tommke wins a stage race and the Badger gets a tan. It is sooooo gauche to speak of it at any other time

 

[Big Ring]

The Tour in 2011 will start in the Vendée department, most probably in La Roche-sur-Yon.

 

[DAOTEC]

98th Le grand Boucle

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Tour de France in 2011 is for three days long in Brittany, reported by the French newspaper Quest-France today. It will be the three days after the Tour start in the Vendee. Arrivals are provided successively Redon, Mur de Bretagne and Cap Frehel. Then the Tour caravan will move on to Normandy.

Source: http://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/sportsDet_-Tour-de-France-2011-les-etapes-en-Bretagne_3638-1500519_actu.Htm?xtor=RSS-4&utm_source=RSS_MVI_ouest-france&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS

The Tour de France in 2011, as already known for a while, will start in Vendee. According velo club has now been leaked that the. first stage will finish at Les Herbiers and the second stage will be a team time trial, from 22 to 23 kilometers around Les Essarts.

21 Stages: Tour de France | July 2 - July 24, 2011

Vedee
1) Sat. July 2: Passage du Gois > Les Herbiers (Mont des Alouettes) 180Km
2) Sun. July 3: Les Essarts > Les Essarts (TTT équipes) 23 KM

Brittany
3) Mon. July 4: Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon
4) Tue. July 5: Lorient - Mûr de Bretagne
5) Wed. July 6: Carhaix - Cap-Fréhel

Normandie
6) Thu. July 7: Dinan - Alençon or Lisieux
7) Fri. July 8: Alençon > (?)
8) Sat. July 9: Argentan > Tours
9) Sun. July10: Limousin or Auvergne > Saint-Flour

Mon. July11: Restday > Lioran

10) Tue. July 12: Aurillac > Lavaur (transition)
Pyrenees
11) Wed. July 13: Limoges > Super-Lioran ; Néronne (2C), Peyrol (1C), Super-Lioran (2C)
12) Thu. July14: repos au lioran
13) Fri. July 15: Aurillac > Toulouse
14) Sat. July 16: Auch > Peyragudes ; Tourmalet (HC), Aspin (1C), Azet (1C), Peyragudes (1C)
15) Sun. July 17: Saint-Gaudens > Carcassonne

Mon. July 18: Restday > Nîmes

Alps
16) Tue. July 19: Nîmes > Digne les Bains >Risoul ; Allos (1C), Vars (1C), Risoul (1C)
17) Wed. July 20: Embrun > Pinerolo ; Izoard (HC), Montgenevre (2C), Sestrières (1C), Pra-Martino (2C)
18) Thu. July 21inerolo or Turijn > Serre-Chevalier ; Mont-Cenis (HC), Télégraphe (1C), Galibier (HC)
19) Fri. July 22: Briançon or Modane > L'Alpe d'Huez ; Galibier (HC), Croix de Fer (HC), Alpe d’Huez (HC)

To Paris
20) Sat. July 23 : Grenoble > Chamrousse - ITT
21) Sun. July 24: Provins > Parijs Champs Elysées

 

[Anonymous]

and it doesnt finish the last sunday in july like usual which means with the wife not breaking up till the 29th we will be missing our first tour in a fair old while

 

[Arnout]

I would love to see the Tour de France start in France in 2011. Especially since 2007, 2009 and 2010 were/are all foreign opening days, we are probably due for a French start...

Personally, I think Prudhomme should do something outrageous and have an ITT from Bedion to the Ventoux summit as the opening stage. It's time to spice up the tour. The harder, the better!

2009 started in Monaco which you can hardly call outside France

 

[The Hitch]

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Tour de France in 2011 is for three days long in Brittany, reported by the French newspaper Quest-France today. It will be the three days after the Tour start in the Vendee. Arrivals are provided successively Redon, Mur de Bretagne and Cap Frehel. Then the Tour caravan will move on to Normandy.

Source: http://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/sportsDet_-Tour-de-France-2011-les-etapes-en-Bretagne_3638-1500519_actu.Htm?xtor=RSS-4&utm_source=RSS_MVI_ouest-france&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS

The Tour de France in 2011, as already known for a while, will start in Vendee. According velo club has now been leaked that the. first stage will finish at Les Herbiers and the second stage will be a team time trial, from 22 to 23 kilometers around Les Essarts.

21 Stages: Tour de France | July 2 - July 24, 2011

Vedee
1) Sat. July 2: Passage du Gois > Les Herbiers (Mont des Alouettes) 180Km
2) Sun. July 3: Les Essarts > Les Essarts (TTT équipes) 23 KM

Brittany
3) Mon. July 4: Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon
4) Tue. July 5: Lorient - Mûr de Bretagne
5) Wed. July 6: Carhaix - Cap-Fréhel

Normandie
6) Thu. July 7: Dinan - Alençon or Lisieux
7) Fri. July 8: Alençon > (?)
8) Sat. July 9: Argentan > Tours
9) Sun. July10: Limousin or Auvergne > Saint-Flour

Mon. July11: Restday > Lioran

10) Tue. July 12: Aurillac > Lavaur (transition)
Pyrenees
11) Wed. July 13: Limoges > Super-Lioran ; Néronne (2C), Peyrol (1C), Super-Lioran (2C)
12) Thu. July14: repos au lioran
13) Fri. July 15: Aurillac > Toulouse
14) Sat. July 16: Auch > Peyragudes ; Tourmalet (HC), Aspin (1C), Azet (1C), Peyragudes (1C)
15) Sun. July 17: Saint-Gaudens > Carcassonne

Mon. July 18: Restday > Nîmes

Alps
16) Tue. July 19: Nîmes > Digne les Bains >Risoul ; Allos (1C), Vars (1C), Risoul (1C)
17) Wed. July 20: Embrun > Pinerolo ; Izoard (HC), Montgenevre (2C), Sestrières (1C), Pra-Martino (2C)
18) Thu. July 21inerolo or Turijn > Serre-Chevalier ; Mont-Cenis (HC), Télégraphe (1C), Galibier (HC)
19) Fri. July 22: Briançon or Modane > L'Alpe d'Huez ; Galibier (HC), Croix de Fer (HC), Alpe d’Huez (HC)

To Paris
20) Sat. July 23 : Grenoble > Chamrousse - ITT
21) Sun. July 24: Provins > Parijs Champs Elysées

Stage 19 with 3 hcs looks very good but why i get the feeling stage it will have the final alp d huez climb 70 km from the finish.

And stage 18 with 2 Hcs looks good but why do i get the feeling there wont be any racing until the final few k.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

All I can say is they'd better put some lumps in the Brittany section of the race otherwise there is likely to be nothing worth bothering with until the middle of week 2. Seriously, no mountains of note until stage 11?

 

[ingsve]

All I can say is they'd better put some lumps in the Brittany section of the race otherwise there is likely to be nothing worth bothering with until the middle of week 2. Seriously, no mountains of note until stage 11?

Ya, it would suck if there were 7 sprint stages in a row from stage 3-9. A rider with a good first stage finish and a good TTT team could hold the yellow jersey for over a week for free almost. I really hope that won't be the case.

Also there's only one ITT (unless stage 7 issomehow a ITT) and a short TTT so I guess they are specifically making courses that will keep Andy Schleck in contention for the GC it seems.

I guess the real challenge in week one could be crosswind perhaps.

 

[The Hitch]

Ya, it would suck if there were 7 sprint stages in a row from stage 3-9. A rider with a good first stage finish and a good TTT team could hold the yellow jersey for over a week for free almost. I really hope that won't be the case.

Also there's only one ITT (unless stage 7 issomehow a ITT) and a short TTT so I guess they are specifically making courses that will keep Andy Schleck in contention for the GC it seems.

I guess the real challenge in week one could be crosswind perhaps.

If stage 7 is not an itt then i will have to conclude that the Tour directors are slowly trying to eliminate the itt from the Tour all together. They used to have 80k tts. This has slowly been coming down. This year the general consensus was that is surprising to have only 2 itts a prologue and a proper one. If they were to lower this to just 1 i guess the next step would be no tts.

 

[The Hitch]

and as far as excursions outside france go, its only visiting Italy is it? Turijn means Turin right? Usually its 2 countries at least.

 

[For The World]

Stage 19 with 3 hcs looks very good but why i get the feeling stage it will have the final alp d huez climb 70 km from the finish.

And stage 18 with 2 Hcs looks good but why do i get the feeling there wont be any racing until the final few k.

I'm inclined to agree with you. I think that racing has really become all about that final sprint up the last climb. This could be because riders are now very close to each other in terms of performance, and they're just going for what i would call a "safe win". Similar to how Contador and Schleck played it this year. I do wonder, what would have happened if Schleck had attacked far earlier (even 20km earlier) - would we have seen the bunch just let them go to duke it out? That extra distance could have given Andy enough of a break (if he'd managed to drop Contador) to get the yellow jersey back.

Then again, that's a WHOLE other topic that will decend into a farcical argument.

 

[theswordsman]

The route changed Friday morning.

Le Tour 2011 évitera l'Ouest de la Bretagne

Le Tour de France 2011, qui a prévu de visiter la Bretagne, ne s'arrêtera pas dans la pointe Ouest de la région, à Châteaulin (Finistère), indiquent samedi les médias bretons. Le projet d'une arrivée inédite dans la côte du Menez-Quelerc'h a officiellement été abandonné vendredi matin par ASO. Le Tour devait ensuite faire escale tous les six ans dans ce site protégé. Mais les difficultés de logistique sur cet espace réduit ont enterré le dossier. Le départ programmé le lendemain matin à l'Aber-Wrac'h, dans le même département, devrait être supprimé lui aussi.
Selon Ouest-France, le nouveau parcours devrait relier Lorient (Morbihan) à une localité des Côtes d'Armor, notamment le Trégor ou Mûr de Bretagne. On sait aussi que les organisateurs recherchent une arrivée en côte pour cette étape.
La course, qui sera lancée de Vendée le 2 juillet, continuera sa remontée vers le Nord via un départ d'étape à Dinan (Côtes d'Armor) pour rejoindre la Normandie, probablement avec des villes telles que Lisieux, toujours d'après Ouest-France.

The 2011 Tour will avoid the Western Britain

The Tour de France 2011, which is scheduled to visit Britain, will not stop in the western tip of the region, Châteaulin (Finistère), indicate the media Saturday Breton. The arrival of a unique project in the coast of Lead-Quelerc'h was officially abandoned on Friday morning by ASO. The Tour then had to call every six years in this protected site. But the difficulties of logistics in the narrow space buried the case. The scheduled departure the next morning at the Aber Wrac'h in the same department, should be deleted too.
According to western France, the new route would connect Lorient (Morbihan) to a village in the Cotes d'Armor, including the Trégor or Hanging of Britain. We also know that the organizers are looking for an uphill finish this step.
The race, which will be launched in the Vendée July 2, will continue his ascent towards the north via a stage start in Dinan (Côtes d'Armor) to get to Normandy, probably with cities such as Lisieux, still from Western France.

http://www.cyclismag.com/article.php?sid=6079#ancre1

 

[Libertine Seguros]

and as far as excursions outside france go, its only visiting Italy is it? Turijn means Turin right? Usually its 2 countries at least.

Pinerolo is in Italy, as is the peak of Sestrières and the whole of Pra Martino.

I suspect they'll cross over into Switzerland at some point.

When the hell are they going to utilise the climbs in Alpes-Maritimes damnit?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The route changed Friday morning.



http://www.cyclismag.com/article.php?sid=6079#ancre1

I don't know who did that translation but it's making one big mistake - Brétagne = Brittany... don't want to overexcite the Britons on the board.

I'm confused by the direction too - going from Vendée through Brittany and Normandy yes, then they suddenly stop and instead of doing a reasonable transfer and doing the Alps first, they diagonally traverse the country to get down to the Southwest again?

 

[theswordsman]

I don't know who did that translation but it's making one big mistake - Brétagne = Brittany... don't want to overexcite the Britons on the board.

I'm confused by the direction too - going from Vendée through Brittany and Normandy yes, then they suddenly stop and instead of doing a reasonable transfer and doing the Alps first, they diagonally traverse the country to get down to the Southwest again?

It was Google Translate - that's why I included the French