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Stage 9: Malemort – Ussel, 185.5k
The first week draws to a close with yet another mid-difficulty stage.Map and profile
Start
Every now and again, the Tour will have a start or finish in a pretty random spot, and this is one such instance. Malemort is a suburb of Brive-la-Gaillarde, the second-largest city in the Limousin (which is not saying much, as this is the smallest of France’s metropolitan regions). Its main claim to fame is the 1177 Battle of Malemort, fought between rebelling Limousin nobles and Richard Lionheart, not yet king of England but already serving as duke of Aquitaine. This particular battle was not to be a feather in Richard’s cap, as the rebels defeated his forces, but order was restored by the end of the year. The village itself probably dates back to the 11th century, and remained very small until the growth of the urban area of Brive spilled over into Malemort in the postwar period. At the same time, a factory that supplies fans and motors to the military was established. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this will be the first time Malemort has hosted the Tour.
(picture by Père Igor at Wikimedia Commons)
The route
The first 50 kilometres are a strong contender for the hilliest section of this length in modern Tour history that does not feature a single KOM. After passing through Brive proper, the neutralisation ends partway up the first climb, Côte de Montplaisir (the section after kilometre zero is 4.6k at 2.5%). Its descent passes through Turenne, once the seat of a powerful viscounty and still dominated by the spectacular ruins of the castle. After another climb, Puy Boubou (3.0k at 3.9%), the route heads to the next tourist destination, Collonges-la-Rouge. Built almost entirely from red sandstone, its mayor instigated the establishment of Les plus beaux villages de France, an association in which a current 184 postcard-friendly villages work together to promote tourism, in the 1980s. Shortly after this, the road rises once more to Croix de Ratabout (5.1k at 3.9%). It corresponds to the first 5.1k of the profile below.
After an even shallower descent, the riders tackle the next climb, Côte des Quatre Routes (8.4k at 3.5%). The intermediate sprint in Beynat is partway up this climb.
The next 25 kilometres are fairly easy, with a plateau section, a descent into the departmental capital, Tulle, and then a bit of valley. Tulle is also notable as the political base of François Hollande, probably the least popular president since the establishment of the Fifth Republic, who served as its mayor for 11 years and its member of parliament for 22 years and counting. This easy section ends abruptly with the first KOM of the day, Côte de Naves (2.4k at 7.2%). Given that the start of the climb is a hairpin and the limited width of the road, this is a place to be careful if the break hasn’t gone yet. Its descent backs into Côte d’Orliac-de-Bar, which, at 3.5k and 5.1%, should probably have been categorised too.
The next 15 or so kilometres are a rolling plateau section that trends uphill. Then, it’s time for the hardest climb of the day, Suc au May. It was used once before at the Tour, as the final climb of the 2020 stage into Sarran won by Marc Hirschi back when he looked like an alien-in-waiting. As we don’t do the final 600 metres of the profile below, the KOM is at the kilometre marker.
The descent takes us to the Vézère valley once more, this time far upstream from the prehistoric sites. The way out of it is another climb seen in that 2020 stage, Côte de la Croix du Pey.
At the KOM, there are 56 kilometres left to race. There is plenty of interesting terrain between here and Ussel – not much that compares to Suc au May, but plenty of similar difficulty to Croix du Pey – but ASO have deliberately opted for a pretty easy finale. The route heads for the Vézère once more, which by this point is close to its source, and then the road starts to gradually rise as the riders approach the highest point of the stage, Mont Bessou. This is a very good climb when climbed in full from its hardest side, but we are neither climbing it in full nor using said side. That being said, the actual KOM is narrow and definitely trickier than it looks from the stage profile.
The descent into Meymac starts on a steep and narrow road, but is otherwise easy. On the other side of town, the road rises again, this time far less steeply.
There is another bump on the profile after that, but 1.7k at 2.2% can scarcely be considered a climb. In fact, contrary to what the stage profile suggests, the final 800 metres are steeper. At about 230 metres, the final straight is very short, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem on an uphill finish.
Finish
Although Ussel’s history goes back to pre-Roman times, the modern town was probably founded in the 11th century. It has always been a central town within the Haute-Corrèze, gradually displacing nearby Égletons to become the largest town in this sparsely populated part of France, but never really grew beyond a somewhat sleepy provincial status. Or maybe I’m subconsciously biased by Hector Malot’s description in Sans famille (translated as Nobody’s Boy/Alone in the World in English), where it is visited twice.
The one period where Ussel was very much not sleepy was the Second World War, when it had some military significance on account of its rail depot. In June 1944, the Nazis executed 47 members of the resistance here. Two months later, with Allied forces drawing closer, the resistance attacked the German occupiers, and temporarily succeeded in liberating the town after a battle that killed six Frenchmen and eight Germans. Four days later, the Germans briefly regained control of Ussel, but it would only be another four days until the city was permanently freed. A couple of months later, three of the perpetrators of the original bloodbath would be sentenced to death.
Modern Ussel is a shrinking town, which has lost a quarter of its population in the past 40 years. It has popped up with some regularity in a number of smaller races – Paris-Corrèze, Tour du Limousin, the French U23 and junior championships – but this will be its first time hosting the Tour.
(picture by Velvet at Wikimedia Commons)
What to expect?
It’s obviously designed to be a breakaway day and that is the most likely outcome, but given the lack of any hard climbs in the final 55 kilometres, the possibility that things come back together for a reduced bunch sprint should not be discounted.
