- Sep 20, 2017
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Because stage 3 wasn't enough, time for another stage that looks both boring and dangerous.
Stage 12: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Nîmes, 159.4 km
The fifth flat stage, and we’re nowhere near done after this one. Prudhomme mentions the possibility of echelons here, but there are hardly any exposed sections... At least the scenery should be nice with the entirety of the Ardèche gorge featuring early on.
Map and profile
Route details
A crossing of the Rhône floodplain preceeds the passage of the Ardèche gorge from its easy side, hence no categorised climbing here. As a result, the only mountain points on offer are in Étoile de Bessèges territory, in the shape of the Côte du belvedère de Tharaux.
The stage doesn’t exactly get more interesting after that. Occasionally, there’s a stretch that isn’t protected by trees, but the odds of echelons are very low contrary to what ASO claims. The intermediate sprint, on a mild incline, comes inside the final 30 kilometers, so it might influence the way the sprinters’ teams manage the early break.
The uncategorised climb inside the final 20 kilometers is the same as in 2019 and looks like this:
Final kilometers
The final 900 meters are identical to those in 2019, but the 2 kilometers before it are different and, frankly, dangerous. The urban nature of the finale reveals itself at 3.2 kilometers to go, with this roundabout that was also seen in 2019.
300 meters on, we deviate from that finale with this tight right-hand turn.
The road remains narrow, with some slight bends before a tight left-hander at 2.2 kilometers from the line.
The picture below comes 300 meters after that. I have no clue what ASO are thinking, this underpass isn’t even mentioned in the roadbook and therefore I have no idea how many arches will be open. Either way, a crash here is too likely for me…
…especially given what each arch looks like up close:
From here, it’s much easier with a wide right-hand turn at 900 meters to go to rejoin the 2019 route, hence the final stretch is the same as the section from 0:17 onwards in the video below. That means there’s a sweeping, two-lane roundabout at 350 meters to go as the final obstacle.
Stage 12: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Nîmes, 159.4 km
The fifth flat stage, and we’re nowhere near done after this one. Prudhomme mentions the possibility of echelons here, but there are hardly any exposed sections... At least the scenery should be nice with the entirety of the Ardèche gorge featuring early on.
Map and profile
Route details
A crossing of the Rhône floodplain preceeds the passage of the Ardèche gorge from its easy side, hence no categorised climbing here. As a result, the only mountain points on offer are in Étoile de Bessèges territory, in the shape of the Côte du belvedère de Tharaux.
The stage doesn’t exactly get more interesting after that. Occasionally, there’s a stretch that isn’t protected by trees, but the odds of echelons are very low contrary to what ASO claims. The intermediate sprint, on a mild incline, comes inside the final 30 kilometers, so it might influence the way the sprinters’ teams manage the early break.
The uncategorised climb inside the final 20 kilometers is the same as in 2019 and looks like this:
Final kilometers
The final 900 meters are identical to those in 2019, but the 2 kilometers before it are different and, frankly, dangerous. The urban nature of the finale reveals itself at 3.2 kilometers to go, with this roundabout that was also seen in 2019.
300 meters on, we deviate from that finale with this tight right-hand turn.
The road remains narrow, with some slight bends before a tight left-hander at 2.2 kilometers from the line.
The picture below comes 300 meters after that. I have no clue what ASO are thinking, this underpass isn’t even mentioned in the roadbook and therefore I have no idea how many arches will be open. Either way, a crash here is too likely for me…
…especially given what each arch looks like up close:
From here, it’s much easier with a wide right-hand turn at 900 meters to go to rejoin the 2019 route, hence the final stretch is the same as the section from 0:17 onwards in the video below. That means there’s a sweeping, two-lane roundabout at 350 meters to go as the final obstacle.
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