You might already have discovered the Giro d'Italia 2012 race route on Google Maps, but before this Grand Tour starts from Denmark, another stage race, in France, will start from Dunkirk tomorrow. In the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region this is of course all about the 4 Jours de Dunkerque which take place over 5 days from Friday 4 till Tuesday 8 May.

In this article you'll find the race route of the 5 stages on Google Maps, their time- and route schedules and the profiles of the stages. Once again, at the end of the article you'll be able to download the race route in Google Earth and thus for example do a virtual fly-over of these stages!

The 4 Jours de Dunkerque race route on Google Maps

887.5 kilometers will have to be ridden by the riders of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque to be able to win the ... pink jersey for the winner of the general classification of this race. It's not the maglia rosa but the race in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais also has a jersey with pink colour for the leader of the general classification.

Let's have have a look at the 5 stages in line one by one ... since I initially developed this these maps for the official presentation of this 58th edition of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, these maps are very precise, including for the places where the stages will start and finish and the roads followed between départ fictif and départ réel.

1/ Friday 4 May 2012 - Dunkerque > Coquelles "Cap Calaisis" - 169.6 km

The first stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque will of course start in Dunkirk, from the Place Jean Bart. The real start will be in front of the church in Cappelle-la-Grande for a stage which will be 169.6 kilometers long and will first go south-west until Clerques before the riders turn right to go find the climb in Le Val and go via Ardres and Brêmes before going down towards Licques where they'll battle for the first intermediate sprint of this stage.

Continuing west, they'll climb another hill at Le Ventu d'Alembon before they arrive in the feeding zone in Marquise. When they arrive on the coast line they go back up towards Calais and will find on their road the intermediate sprint of Wissant before they get on the 16.1 kilometer long circuit. In this circuit they'll climb the Cap Blanc Nez which will award points at the 1st and 3rd crossing. Indeed, after the first crossing of the finish line in Coquelles they'll still have 3 laps on the circuit to do before we know who will be the first rider to wear the pink jersey! At the 3rd crossing of Peuplingues on the circuit they'll battle for the last intermediate sprint. The finish line will be drawn in the Avenue Charles de Gaulle and will be slightly uphill after 169.6 kilometers in the race.

Hereunder you'll find the time- and route schedule, the stage profile and the race route on Google Maps for this stage. Click on the images to open them.

2/ Saturday 5 May 2012 - Berck-sur-Mer > Montreuil-sur-Mer - 180.2 km

The second stage will take place on the south side of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, between Berck-sur-Mer on the sea side (with the fictive start on the Esplanade Maritime) and Montreuil-sur-Mer at no more than 20 kilometers from there.

In this stage the real start in front of the Hôtel de Ville of Berck will however be separated from the finish on the Place Général de Gaulle in Montreuil-sur-Mer by 180 kilometers. In order to get to this distance, the riders will first go towards Rang-du-Fliers before they turn left and go up north via Étaples from where they'll continue north-east before they turn left just before Enquin-sur-Baillons to go find the climb of La Folie and do a loop to come back in Enquin-sur-Baillons via the intermediate sprint in Hucqueliers.

They will again turn left to go to Estréelles where they'll turn again to continue their trip east and find the feeding zone de in Etreuille. They'll than continue south via the climb of Embry and Lebiez before they turn right to get via Loison-sur-Créquoise and Neuville-sous-Montreuil to the finish city. At the 1st and 2nd crossing the climb towards the city will count for the Prix des Monts before the finish line. After the first crossing of the finish line, they'll do two laps on the circuit which goes via Campagne-lès-Hesdin and Beaurainville and in which the riders will battle for the two last intermediate sprints of this stage in Brimeux.

Hereunder you'll find the time- and route schedule, the stage profile and the race route on Google Maps for this stage. Click on the images to open them.

3/ Sunday 6 May 2012 - Poperinge centre (B) > Poperinge Reningelst (B) - 178.3 km

The second voting round for the Presidential elections in France oblige the race to have this 3rd stage take place completely in Belgium.

And since this stage is in Belgium one could almost believe that the organiser of the race wanted to make this stage a criterium. Indeed, between Poperinge - where the fictive start will be on the Grand Place - and Reningelst only 1 kilometer separates the real start at the exit of Poperinge from the entrance of the 21.5 kilometer long circuit on which the riders will do 8 laps after the first crossing of the finish line on the Heuvellandweg.

On every lap they'll climb the Kasteelmolen where they'll get points at the 2nd, 4th and 6th crossing while at the 3rd, 5th and 7th crossing they'll battle for an intermediate sprint ahead of the Restaurant "In de Zon".

Hereunder you'll find the time- and route schedule, the stage profile and the race route on Google Maps for this stage. Click on the images to open them.

4/ lundi 7 May 2012 - Gravelines > Cassel - 183.3 km

The 4th stage will again take place in France, with the fictive start in Gravelines, at the west side of Dunkirk, in the Boulevard de l'Est and the real start will be in front of the bassin de la Base d'Aviron. This is the classical stage with the Mounts of Cassel where the finish will be on the Grand Place in front of the Hôtel de Ville.

It will thus all happen on the circuit around the finish city which made Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) lucky last year. Indeed, after the first crossing of the finish line the riders will do 10 laps on a 14.6 kilometer long circuit with these famous mounts, Rue du Tambour (which will count for the Prix des Monts at the 4th, 6th and 8th crossing) and the Avenue Achille Samyn (at the 5th, 7th and 9th crossing), and an intermediate sprint at the 3rd, 6th and 8th crossing in Oxelaere.

Hereunder you'll find the time- and route schedule, the stage profile and the race route on Google Maps for this stage. Click on the images to open them.

5/ Tuesday 8 May 2012 - Béthune > Dunkerque - 176.1 km

The last stage will as usual end in Dunkirk, in the Boulevard Sainte Barbe. The start will be at the Grand Place in Béthune with the real start at the lieu dit "Chemin Vert".

After about twenty kilometers the riders will get to the sprint of Isbergues and about fifty kilometers further they'll climb a hill in Watten. The feeding zone will be in Bollezeele and from there, the riders will go via Spycker, Bergues and the intermediate sprint of Coudekerque-Village to the final circuit around Dunkirk. This circuit of 7 kilometers will be used 7 times after the first crossing of the finish line and they'll battle for an intermediate sprint at the 5th crossing of the Digue de Mer.

Hereunder you'll find the time- and route schedule, the stage profile and the race route on Google Maps for this stage. Click on the images to open them.

The map of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque 2012 in Google Earth

Would you like to see all te stages of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque 2012 on a single map? Or would you like to discover these 5 stages by doing a virtual fly-over of the race route? Download the KML file below and open it in Google Earth to do so:

>> Download the 4 Jours de Dunkerque 2012 race route in Google Earth

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: 4 Jours de Dunkerque | OpenStreetMap/Google Maps/Google Earth

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