Tour de France 2013

[Lupetto]

Mister Paul Giacobbi, President of the “Collectivité Territoriale de Corse” and Mister Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France, have the great pleasure of announcing that the Grand Depart (start) of the 100th edition of the Tour de France will take place in Corsica in 2013.

It will be the first time that the ‘Beauty Island’ and its two departments will welcome the peloton of the greatest cycling race in the world. Despite the fact that many cycling events have already taken place on its territory, Corsica remains the only region of metropolitan France to have never received the visit of the Tour de France.

The details of the Grand Départ and the stages selected for it will be revealed on the occasion of a press conference held on Tuesday the 6th of December 2011 at the Hôtel de Région in Ajaccio.

http://www.letour.fr/2012/TDF/COURSE/us/actus.html#zone184919

Big question is now, how they will screw it up? 😉

 

[Ferminal]

Time to go make some dream stages on Corsica, just so I know not what to expect.

 

[L'arriviste]

They will need some pretty tight security in place for that. 🙄

 

[Moondance]

3 stages in Corsica, one is a prologue.

So two road stages... Hmmmm... They could do some very good and interesting things on that island. But then again it is the Tour, and bland stages is what they specialize in.

 

[Siriuscat]

There is a chance the first couple of days could be great inevitably it will be bland.......

 

[Kwibus]

Great news, but the cynism of the 5 posters above me is probably justified.

They will screw up 🙂

 

[just some guy]

I think

with the 1 short ITT

and sprint stage and 1 Hill/MTH top finish

should be good for all 2013 should be different from the last few years I hope

 

[craig1985]

No stage in Corsica is not complete without the Porto-Vecchio to make the racing interesting, but odds on that not happening?

 

[The Hitch]

Climbs I expect

Aubisque, Tourmalet, Alpe d huez, Portet d'Aspet, Izoard, Galibier 🙄

And I heard Ventoux will break into the first team for 2013 only.

 

[jens_attacks]

i would love and heard indeed some rumours about hautacam 2013!that would be too cool
also col de la madeleine from la chambre
probably we'll have alpe d'huez itt which is good.

 

[gilbertador]

Lets have Pla d adet, joux plain and Hautacum

Inevitably and rightly so alpe d huez, really want them to skip tourmalet for once its so overused, ventoux is pritty over rated the wind will often significantly impact on its ability to split the race up and produce time gaps that are meaningful

one other thing....please can we have some time bonuses

 

[roundabout]

Question is will they do the same ole 6 cities of 1903 bit again or actually try and think of something new and memorable.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Corsica - hey that's close to Sardinia - might even hop across.🙂

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

the colombians will feel well suited in corsica 🙂

although I'm sure they will try and look for some flat stages

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

i would love and heard indeed some rumours about hautacam 2013!that would be too cool
also col de la madeleine from la chambre
probably we'll have alpe d'huez itt which is good.

mountain itt, yes please!

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

i would love and heard indeed some rumours about hautacam 2013!that would be too cool
also col de la madeleine from la chambre
probably we'll have alpe d'huez itt which is good.

Madeleine as an MTF?

 

[L'arriviste]

Great news, but the cynism of the 5 posters above me is probably justified.

They will screw up 🙂

Well in my case, I wasn't saying it out of cynicism but a genuine sense of concern. 🙂

Corsica is economically depressed as it is. In two years' time, the fallout (pun with regard to Corsica's Chernobyl problems not intended) of today's problems will be fully recognisable, almost certainly exacerbating anti-Mainland sentiment.

 

[airstream]

Yeah, it would be great to include Col de la Madeleine La Chambre D 213 as the final climb at least. As far as I know that side was never used though.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Well in my case, I wasn't saying it out of cynicism but a genuine sense of concern. 🙂

Corsica is economically depressed as it is. In two years' time, the fallout (pun with regard to Corsica's Chernobyl problems not intended) of today's problems will be fully recognisable, almost certainly exacerbating anti-Mainland sentiment.

don't worrie. in 2 years time the world will be a totally different and better place

 

[McLovin]

i would love and heard indeed some rumours about hautacam 2013!that would be too cool
also col de la madeleine from la chambre
probably we'll have alpe d'huez itt which is good.

Hautacam would be logical. They will wait for a big number of fans for all stages, and the climb is one of the most accessible, as 10 km from the starting point, you're in plains. Plus Lourdes is no. 2 after Paris regarding hotel rooms.
Madeleine from la Chambre MTF would be the best they can do this Tour, IMO.

 

[will10]

Didn't they move Criterium International to Corsica as a trial run for an eventual TdF start? In which case we already know the first three stages 😉

 

[jens_attacks]

Yeah, it would be great to include Col de la Madeleine La Chambre D 213 as the final climb at least. As far as I know that side was never used though.

in 1997 they climbed it from la chambre i'm sure.nutter stage with glandon-madeleine-courchevel.short but sharp.festina killed the race 120 km out

 

[pastronef]

Yeah, it would be great to include Col de la Madeleine La Chambre D 213 as the final climb at least. As far as I know that side was never used though.

here is a link, it has been used a few times

http://www.comitesavoieffc.com/madeleine/histoirecol.pdf

the last ones from La Chambre were 2004, 2002, 2000

 

[barmaher]

Question is will they do the same ole 6 cities of 1903 bit again or actually try and think of something new and memorable.

Didn't I hear that they are trying to visit all French regions?

So it might be:

Corsica –> Provence –> Languedoc-Roussillon –> Midi-Pyrenees –> Aquitaine –> Limousin –> Poitou-Charentes –> Loire/Bretagne –> Normandy, Picardy/Nord –> Ardennes –> Alsace/Lorraine –> Franche Comté –> Rhone-Alpes –> Auvergne –> Centre –> Ile de France

Logistically, that would be a pain in the bollix to fit in without big transfers.

 

[Lupetto]

Didn't they move Criterium International to Corsica as a trial run for an eventual TdF start? In which case we already know the first three stages 😉

There are some rumours for the first three stages.

Du col de Vizzavona aux Calanche de Piana

- Étape 1 (146 km) : Porto-Vecchio-Bastia. Parcours pratiquement plat taillé pour les routiers sprinters le long de la côte orientale.

- Étape 2 (147 km) : Bastia-Ajaccio. La RN 193, avec la ville de Corte à mi-parcours, mais aussi et surtout le col de Vizzavona classé en 2e catégorie.

- Étape 3 (155 km) : Ajaccio-Calvi. Le long de la côte occidentale, cette fois, sur un parcours sélectif dont les principales difficultés seront les cols de San Bastianu, San Martinu et Marsulinu. La traversée des Calanche de Piana constituera incontestablement le point d'orgue de l'étape.