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Tragic floods in the Pyrénées: stage 9 of the Tour possibly threatened

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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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Tragic floods in the Pyrénées: stage 9 of the Tour possibly threatened

Recently, some floods struck the Pyrénées, mostly the regions around Lourdes, Luchon, due to the violent weather and the snow melting, and rivers have been in spate. They already took three lives.

The fact is the valley of Luchon is due to host the Tour de France in two weeks, in the stage 9 between Saint-Girons and Bagnères-de-Bigorre. The problem is the section between the col de Menté and the col de Peyresourde has been devastated by the floods.

ASO didn't comment on it, but when you see the actual state of the city of Saint-Béat (which is at the bottom of the col de Menté) and Bagnères de Luchon (at the bottom of Peyresourde)... You really don't see them having a peloton going through its roads in two weeks. These cities will need months to recover.

So the stage 9 is possibly threatened, and do you think ASO will modify the stage?
 
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Dazed and Confused

Jan 27, 2012
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well, it was one of the stages I had on the radar.

So another flat stage instead?
 
Miburo

Miburo

Jul 29, 2012
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Waterloo Sunrise said:
Sadly not, issue is early on in the stage so presume it would still contain the later hills if changed.
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You really like sprints don't you? ;)
 
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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Anyway, I'd say remove Portet d'Aspet + Menté, replace them with Balès = problem solved. The first 4 km of Peyresourde are cut and the valley is avoided.

Yeah, ASO can make a stage harder. Remember 2008 when col de Larche was replaced by Agnel. :D
 
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veji11

Apr 15, 2013
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They might have to move the start to St Gaudens and go all the way to Bagnères de Luchon up the main road (N125 thant D125) staying in the valley. Even if that road has suffered damages, as the only valley access to Bagnères it is going to be the first road repaired, and very quickly. So than we would have from St Gaudens to Bagnères 45 kms of flat which shortens the stage by 30 kms. If they still go from St Girons but via St Gaudens, than it is 85 kms of flat.

Actually when you think about it is probably the simplest solution since the start than stays in St Girons. You add about 15 kms to the stage (goes up to 180kms, which is still very reasonable) but you just start flat for the first 85 kms.
 
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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veji11 said:
They might have to move the start to St Gaudens and go all the way to Bagnères de Luchon up the main road (N125 thant D125) staying in the valley. Even if that road has suffered damages, as the only valley access to Bagnères it is going to be the first road repaired, and very quickly. So than we would have from St Gaudens to Bagnères 45 kms of flat which shortens the stage by 30 kms. If they still go from St Girons but via St Gaudens, than it is 85 kms of flat.

Actually when you think about it is probably the simplest solution since the start than stays in St Girons. You add about 15 kms to the stage (goes up to 180kms, which is still very reasonable) but you just start flat for the first 85 kms.
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Why going through the valley when there's Balès? :) That's why I'd propose to remove the first two climbs so the stage stays balanced, and you have like 70 km of flat before the start of Balès starting in Saint-Girons. Also Balès has the advantage to be perfectly chainable with Peyresourde.

And well, 70 km of flat isn't a problem, Mont Ventoux stage has 220 km of flat before the climb... :D
 
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veji11

Apr 15, 2013
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Linkinito said:
Anyway, I'd say remove Portet d'Aspet + Menté, replace them with Balès = problem solved. The first 4 km of Peyresourde are cut and the valley is avoided.

Yeah, ASO can make a stage harder. Remember 2008 when col de Larche was replaced by Agnel. :D
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Assuming the road isn't damaged because if it is, being a very secondary/tertiary road, it will be at the bottom of the repair priority list, than you really have to move the start,

But hey you might end up replacing Aspet-Mentré by Aspet-Ares-Balès and suddenly you have a beast of a a stage with an extra 30kms and an HC climb. You end up with a 195 almost to 200 kms stage...

Would be awesome but i would be surprised if the road to Balès hasn't been damaged, and as said it will then not be repaired in time.
 
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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veji11 said:
Assuming the road isn't damaged because if it is, being a very secondary/tertiary road, it will be at the bottom of the repair priority list, than you really have to move the start,

But hey you might end up replacing Aspet-Mentré by Aspet-Ares-Balès and suddenly you have a beast of a a stage with an extra 30kms and an HC climb. You end up with a 195 almost to 200 kms stage...

Would be awesome but i would be surprised if the road to Balès hasn't been damaged, and as said it will then not be repaired in time.
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The damages are mostly in the valleys, as this is where all the rivers come down to one and creates a flood. Much higher the roads aren't really affected. The Tourmalet served as a backup road to evacuate all the people in Luz-Saint-Sauveur and Barèges as they couldn't go down the flooded valley. So I doubt Balès is touched by the floods. The damage is mostly at the bottom of the climbs, not really high up.

(Even in the small village of Barèges, on the west side of Tourmalet, had been really damaged, despite being at 1100 m)
 
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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Netserk said:
I don't think they'll do Balès. Luchon has probably paid to have the stage go through there and have an intermediate sprint.
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Honestly, I don't think they paid to get the sprint. ASO probably just puts it on the way, without charging the city for it.

In fact I don't know if ASO will want to change the route so they still show great sceneries to the world, or if they will keep the route as is as a reminder of the floods that struck in the recent days. Anyway, just got the info, Thierry Gouvenou (the director of the sports service at ASO) will talk about it on saturday on a webradio broadcasting.
 
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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http://www.20minutes.fr/sport/tour-...r-france-parcours-modifie-a-cause-intemperies

We will wait a little bit, said to the AFP the Tour director, Christian Prudhomme. The Ariège stage isn't affected. If the Bagnères-de-Bigorre one is, depending on the damage in the area of Saint-Béat and Luchon, it wouldn't be sportively important. The decisive part, with Peyresourde, Azet-Val Louron and Hourquette d'Ancizan, is not concerned. We think first to the disaster victims, and the ones who love the Tour. These are regions we visit quite often.
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So as expected, the Ax-3-Domaines stage is untouched, and only the first part of the 9th stage could be affected.
 
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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From La Dépêche du Midi :
François Fortassin, the left-wing senator of the Hautes-Pyrénées, will travel along the route on saturday, mostly around Saint-Béat (at the bottom of the col de Menté) and in the Aure valley (before the Hourquette d'Ancizan). Being close to Christian Prudhomme, the race director, he'll need to evaluate the damage caused by the floods on the roads that the riders have to take on July 7. If they were too important, a new route will have to be redesigned.
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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Again, from La Dépêche:
"Hollande promised"

No problem for Luchon, assured Christian Prudhomme. The question was just to know if the Tour would go through the col des Ares or the col de Menté (now closed). But it seems that "the Tour de France could even pass today, said the senator Bertrand Auban. Every road has been made accessible, there's just the center of Saint-Béat that needs to be cleaned, but until then, it will be done!"

"The french president François Hollande promised me he would be there for the Tour, reminds Hervé Péréfarrès, the mayor of Saint-Béat, and I'm sure he will keep his promise…"

The mayor of Saint-Béat sees his village taking back its colors hour after hour: "The Tour will be there, we're giving ourselves the means… I also couldn't imagine so many means, so many people! I'm stunned about the speed of the things going forward… We'll make it!"

Hervé Péréfarrès hopes that its village tortured by the floods will look contented on July 7 for this ninth stage: the stage of a new chance for Saint-Béat.
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So the route will probably stay the same, according to the local administratives.
 
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Linkinito

Sep 29, 2012
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That's really saddening. The forces of nature sometimes are cruel and cannot be contained, sometimes. I have some feelings for all the people who live here and lost everything. They suffered from floods that only happen around once or twice per century. But I'm confident they will rebuild, they'll get over it. Some regions that suffered from devastating floods managed to get back on their legs.

For example, in 1992, the city of Vaison-la-Romaine suffered from these kind of floods.

Fortunately for the Tour de France, they didn't plan to use the Tourmalet this year (which was quite surprising for the 100th edition, being the most known climb of the Pyrénées). The damage on the west side is just speechless. The road won't be repaired until several months... If the Tour wanted to go through the Tourmalet this year, the route would have been definitely changed. But that's not the case, as the only damaged part they are going through is just the valley of Luchon and Saint-Béat.
 
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