- Oct 13, 2021
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OP by @Devil's Elbow here:
https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threads/tour-de-france-2024-stage-by-stage-analysis.39775/post-3032426
The last 200k+ stage of the race is the westward half of the transition from Massif Central to Pyrenees.
The Route
The start is in Aurillac, capital of and only place even remotely resembling a city in the Cantal. It sits at the point where the higher ranges of the Massif Central give way to the lower plateaus in the western part, where mountainous stages give way to sprintier ones. The southwestern half of the Massif Central has always one of the more remote and less populous French reasons, so while Aurillac has been the regional centre since the Middle Ages, it also never played much of a role beyond the region. Its location at the base of the ‘high’ Massif Central means the Tour has often passed here on either the way in or the way out, for the last time in 2011 when Mark Cavendish won a comparable sort of stage.
For the second time this race, the Tour starts a stage by skirting around the hometown of a former winner, this time that of 1931 and 1934 champion Antonin Magne. Instead, it’s a rolling start, before a longer descent into the Dordogne valley. The way out of said valley is the first KOM of the day, Côte d’Autoire.
After passing by the Gouffre de Padirac, France’s most-visited cave, and a short section on the furthest extent of the causses (the plateaus of the Massif Central), we pass the famous pilgrimage site of Rocamadour and do the final section of the 2022 TT in reverse. This includes the second KOM, Côte de Rocamadour (no profile available, in the TT it was the descent where Vingegaard nearly crashed). Following some uncategorised climbing, there is an intermediate sprint in Gourdon.
From here, the hills become lower, but the flatter roads remain mostly unexposed. There is one last KOM at the Côte de Montcléra, then join the Lot in the town of Fumet. From here, there were two options to go to the finish: cross the Lot to take in some decent hills, or stick to the northern side of the river where there aren’t any. Take a guess which option ASO went for. It’s the fourth sprint stage that they could have done something more interesting with – in fact, there’s a 1k at almost 10% hill overlooking the town…
Instead, it’s a finale littered with road furniture if the roadbook is to be believed. They’ve even marked a traffic island at 200 metres from the line, which I think will be removed anyway but if not, then heads should roll, because the riders certainly would…
Villeneuve-sur-Lot was among the largest of the many bastides founded to replace a town destroyed by the Albigensian Crusade (or, as we would put it had it happened today, the Albigensian genocide), hence the regular road pattern in the city centre. The bridge over the Lot was first built when southwestern France was under English control. It served as a river port on the Lot, which flows into the Garonne not too far from. here, for places as far away as the Auvergne, where the stage started. Its location was far less suitable upon the development of the railway and industrialization, and thus it has declined relative to the wider region. This will be its third time hosting, after two breakaway stages in 1996 and 2000.
What to expect?
Fairly sheltered and heading west all day – even with the elevation gain, that’s a bad scenario for anyone hoping for something other than a full bunch sprint. Still, we definitely can’t rule out the breakaway here.
https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threads/tour-de-france-2024-stage-by-stage-analysis.39775/post-3032426
The last 200k+ stage of the race is the westward half of the transition from Massif Central to Pyrenees.
The Route
The start is in Aurillac, capital of and only place even remotely resembling a city in the Cantal. It sits at the point where the higher ranges of the Massif Central give way to the lower plateaus in the western part, where mountainous stages give way to sprintier ones. The southwestern half of the Massif Central has always one of the more remote and less populous French reasons, so while Aurillac has been the regional centre since the Middle Ages, it also never played much of a role beyond the region. Its location at the base of the ‘high’ Massif Central means the Tour has often passed here on either the way in or the way out, for the last time in 2011 when Mark Cavendish won a comparable sort of stage.
For the second time this race, the Tour starts a stage by skirting around the hometown of a former winner, this time that of 1931 and 1934 champion Antonin Magne. Instead, it’s a rolling start, before a longer descent into the Dordogne valley. The way out of said valley is the first KOM of the day, Côte d’Autoire.
After passing by the Gouffre de Padirac, France’s most-visited cave, and a short section on the furthest extent of the causses (the plateaus of the Massif Central), we pass the famous pilgrimage site of Rocamadour and do the final section of the 2022 TT in reverse. This includes the second KOM, Côte de Rocamadour (no profile available, in the TT it was the descent where Vingegaard nearly crashed). Following some uncategorised climbing, there is an intermediate sprint in Gourdon.
From here, the hills become lower, but the flatter roads remain mostly unexposed. There is one last KOM at the Côte de Montcléra, then join the Lot in the town of Fumet. From here, there were two options to go to the finish: cross the Lot to take in some decent hills, or stick to the northern side of the river where there aren’t any. Take a guess which option ASO went for. It’s the fourth sprint stage that they could have done something more interesting with – in fact, there’s a 1k at almost 10% hill overlooking the town…
Instead, it’s a finale littered with road furniture if the roadbook is to be believed. They’ve even marked a traffic island at 200 metres from the line, which I think will be removed anyway but if not, then heads should roll, because the riders certainly would…
Villeneuve-sur-Lot was among the largest of the many bastides founded to replace a town destroyed by the Albigensian Crusade (or, as we would put it had it happened today, the Albigensian genocide), hence the regular road pattern in the city centre. The bridge over the Lot was first built when southwestern France was under English control. It served as a river port on the Lot, which flows into the Garonne not too far from. here, for places as far away as the Auvergne, where the stage started. Its location was far less suitable upon the development of the railway and industrialization, and thus it has declined relative to the wider region. This will be its third time hosting, after two breakaway stages in 1996 and 2000.
What to expect?
Fairly sheltered and heading west all day – even with the elevation gain, that’s a bad scenario for anyone hoping for something other than a full bunch sprint. Still, we definitely can’t rule out the breakaway here.
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