Early afternoon, in the Palais des Congrès in Paris, this Tuesday 18 October 2016 the Tour de France 2017 race route was officially announced. Not only you could follow it live on velowire.com, but you have also discovered it before the official announcement in the rumours about the Tour de France 2017 race route.
As predicted, the intermediate mountains (Vosges, Jura and Massif Central) are honoured, just like the Alps which see double with a first visit in Chambéry, followed by a transfer and a descente towards the Pyrenees followed by transition stages back to the Alps. The Tour will still end in Paris, but we'll get to know who's the winner of this 104th edition of the Grande Boucle in Marseille, since that's where the time trial the day before Paris will take place. And that's where the followers of the Tour get worried already because they see two horrible transfers during this Tour de France 2017!
The Tour de France 2017 in numbers
As usual, let's first have a look at the statistics of the Tour de France 2017 which will take place from the 1st till the 23 July 2017:- it'll be the 104th edition of the Grande Boucle, after the first start in Montgeron
- 5, that's the number of mountain chains which the Tour de France 2017 will visit (Alps, Pyrenees, Vosges, Jura and Massif Central) and that will be the first time since 1992 that the Tour visit all 5 of them!
- 1 pour for the first time that a finish will be judged on top of the Col d'Izoard, often climbed as one of the mountains of the Tour but never as the finish location of a stage
- 21 stages: 9 flat stages, 5 hilly stages, 5 mountain stages and 3 mountain top finishes (La Planche des Belles Filles, Peyragudes and Col d'Izoard) and 2 individual time trial stages (36 kilometers alltogether: 13 for the first stage and 23 for the forelast one), with a total of 3.516 km according to the current estimation, before homologation
- 10 location and stage cities which have never before been visited by the Tour: Düsseldorf (DE), Mondorf-les-Bains (LU), Nuits-Saint-Georges, Nantua, Eymet, Laissac-Sévérac, Romans-sur-Isère, La Mure, Col d'Izoard, Salon-de-Provence
- 4 visited countries: Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg at the start and France of course
- 4 again, for the 4th time that the Tour de France will start in Germany: after the Grand Départs in Cologne (1965), Frankfurt (1980) and West-Berlin (1987) it's now the turn for Düsseldorf, 30 years after the last German Grand Départ
The programme of the Grand Départ in Düsseldorf in Germany
As you know, the Tour de France 2017 will start in Düsseldorf in Germany, country where the Tour has'nt seen a Grand Départ since 30 years.An initial time trial and the start of a first stage in line will tus take place in the city which carries the nickname "le Petit Paris" (small Paris, in reference to the fashion of which it is the German capital), in Düsseldorf.
The programme of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2017 is a classical programme with:
- Wednesday 28 June 2017: official opening of the "Permanence" and the press room in the Messe Düsseldorf
- Thursday 29 June 2017: teams presentation of the Tour de France 2017 on the Burgplatz
- Saturday 1st of July 2017: first stage, as an individual time trial - Düsseldorf > Düsseldorf - 13 km
- Sunday 2 July 2017: second stage - start in Düsseldorf, towards Liège in Belgium
The stages of the Tour de France 2017, the race route in detail
You'll find below the list of the 21 stages of the Tour de France 2017 and for each of them the number of kilometers:# | date | start | finish | km |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sa. 1 July 2017 | Düsseldorf (DE) | Düsseldorf (DE) | ITT 13 km |
2 | Su. 2 July 2017 | Düsseldorf (DE) | Liège (BE) | 202 km |
3 | Mo. 3 July 2017 | Verviers (BE) | Longwy | 202 km |
4 | Tu. 4 July 2017 | Mondorf-les-Bains (LU) | Vittel | 203 km |
5 | We. 5 July 2017 | Vittel | La Planche des Belles Filles | 160 km |
6 | Th. 6 July 2017 | Vesoul | Troyes | 216 km |
7 | Fr. 7 July 2017 | Troyes | Nuits-Saint-Georges | 214 km |
8 | Sa. 8 July 2017 | Dole | Station des Rousses | 187 km |
9 | Su. 9 July 2017 | Nantua | Chambéry | 181 km |
R1 | Mo. 10 July 2017 | repos en Dordogne | ||
10 | Tu. 11 July 2017 | Périgueux | Bergerac | 178 km |
11 | We. 12 July 2017 | Eymet | Pau | 202 km |
12 | Th. 13 July 2017 | Pau | Peyragudes | 214 km |
13 | Fr. 14 July 2017 | Saint-Girons | Foix | 100 km |
14 | Sa. 15 July 2017 | Blagnac | Rodez | 181 km |
15 | Su. 16 July 2017 | Laissac-Sévérac l'Eglise | Le Puy-en-Velay | 189 km |
R2 | Mo. 17 July 2017 | repos au Puy-en-Velay | ||
16 | Tu. 18 July 2017 | Le Puy-en-Velay | Romans-sur-Isère | 165 km |
17 | We. 19 July 2017 | La Mure | Serre Chevalier | 183 km |
18 | Th. 20 July 2017 | Briançon | Col d'Izoard | 178 km |
19 | Fr. 21 July 2017 | Embrun | Salon-de-Provence | 220 km |
20 | Sa. 22 July 2017 | Marseille | Marseille | ITT 23 km |
21 | Su. 23 July 2017 | Montgeron | Paris Champs-Elysées | 105 km |
Let's now have a look at the Tour de France 2017 race route more in detail, visiting in detail each of the 21 stages:
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1/ Saturday 1st of July 2017 - Düsseldorf (DE) > Düsseldorf (DE) - individual time trial - 13 km
The first stage will take place in the streets of the city Düsseldorf on a race route which will pretty much follow straight lines but with some technical turns around the crossings of the Rhine river by each of the riders starting in the Tour de France 2017. The first "Maillot Jaune" of this Tour will thus be for a time trial expert, and why not for example the multiple World Champion in this discipline, who's German as well, Tony Martin.The start will take place in the Stockumer Kirchstraße and the finish in the Rotterdamer Straße close to the congress center of Düsseldorf.
This is indeed the first stage and not a prologue because the distance in this race against the clock is 13 kilometers while the maximum distance for a prologue is 8 kilometers.
You can already find the race route of this first stage of the Tour de France 2017 in Düsseldorf on Google Maps!
2/ Sunday 2 July 2017 - Düsseldorf (DE) > Liège (BE) - 202 km
The second stage will for the biggest part take place in Germany. Indeed, it'll also start in the city of the Grand Départ, Düsseldorf, before it'll continue towards its final destination, Liège in Belgium.The stage will however not directly go west because it starts with a loop of about 50 kilometers around Düsseldorf, east of the start city. The fictive start of this stage will take place in the city center of Düsseldorf, in the Mertensgasse and after a zig-zag in the streets of the city, the real start (km 0) will be on the Kaiserstraße, about 9 kilometers from the start location . After less than 10 kilometers, the first points for the King of the Mountains classification will be awarded to the rider who's the fast to climb the Grafenberg and the race will than continue east towards the city Mettmann where it'll turn west back to Düsseldorf.
After a new visit of Düsseldorf, the stage will continue west towards its intermediate sprint in Mönchengladbach, close to the stadium of Borussia Mönchengladbach, one of the best football clubs of Germany (the "Stadion im Borussia-Park").
Off to Belgium and the city of Liège than, where the finish will this time take place in the city center, on the Boulevard de la Sauvenière where we'll most probably see a bunch sprint decide the stage winner!
Monday 3 July 2017 - 3/ Verviers (BE) > Longwy - 202 km
The 3rd stage will start in Verviers, still in the Province of Liège in Belgium, where the Tour had a stage finish in 1976, stage which started in Leuven and which was won by the Spanniard Miguel-Maria Lasa.Once they've left Belgium, this stage will see the riders cross Luxembourg but they won't stop there because A.S.O., the organisor of the Tour de France, was looking for a finish with a climb towards the finish and found it in Longwy, just on the other side of the border with France. The Tour didn't go back to Longwy since 1982 while the Grande Boucle had a stage finish for a stage coming from Dunkirk (!) every year here between 1911 and 1914!
In 2017 the race will thus finish on a short climb here, 1.6 kilometers long and with an average steepness of 5.8%, with the steepest part going up 11%! (see the profile on the side)
Tuesday 4 July 2017 - 4/ Mondorf-les-Bains (LU) > Vittel - 203 km
After the finish in Longwy in France, the start the next day will be in Luxembourg anyway, and more precisely in Mondorf-les-Bains, the place where Andy and Fränk Schleck grew up and still live. From this never before visited start city, the race goes off to the border with France which will be crossed in Schengen, the city which became famous on the 14th of June 1985, when the treaty concerning the abolition of the European internal border controls was signed, threaty which thus usually is called the « Schengen agreement ».The descent south will continue towards the finish in Vittel and apparently only the wind can prevent a sprinter from taking the stage victory that day.
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Wednesday 5 July 2017 - 5/ Vittel > La Planche des Belles Filles - 160 km
From the city of the mineral water of the thermal station Vittel of which the same named brand is a sponsor of the Tour de France since 2008, the 5th stage will start and go off towards La Planche des Belles Filles over a distance of 160 kilometers which contains the Côte d'Esmoulières but which has as its only official difficulty the final climb of 5.9 kilometers at 8.5% of which the final part contains portions up to 20%.This will be the 3rd time that the Tour de France will go up La Planche des Belles Filles since the construction of the road which was necessary for this finish in 2012 (the second finish took place there in 2014).
Thursday 6 July 2017 - 6/ Vesoul > Troyes - 216 km
Leaving the Vosges, the riders will start the 6th stage in Vesoul for 216 kilometers towards Troyes. After the mountain top finish the day before, we'll again be back with a stage destined to sprinters.Friday 7 July 2017 - 7/ Troyes > Nuits-Saint-Georges - 214 km
It's as if we came back on our ongoing trip after this short side trip towards Troyes because the next day the race continues towards Nuit-Saint-Georges, at less than 130 kilometers in a straight line from Vesoul.Most probably this will again be a stage for sprinters but the organisor of the Tour mentions a final loop of 40 kilometers which could confront the peloton to side winds which certain teams perfectly know how to exploit.
Saturday 8 July 2017 - 8/ Dole > Station des Rousses - 187 km
The 8th stage of the Tour de France 2017 will completely take place in the Jura department, between the start in Dole and the finish in the Station des Rousses.In the second half of the stage, two climbs will precede the finish at Les Rousses, the Côte de Viry (7.6 km @ 5.2%) and the Montée de la Combe de Laisia Les Molunes (11.7 km @ 6.4%) which summit will be at 11 kilometers from the finish.
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Sunday 9 July 2017 - 9/ Nantua > Chambéry - 181 km
Still in the Jura and going towards the Alps, the start of this 9th stage will be in Nantua close to its famous lake. It'll be the very first time that Nantua will see a visit of the Tour de France. That's not the case for Chambéry where the Tour came by for a stage start in 1996 and another one in 2010. In 2017 it'll thus be a stage finish in this city where the AG2R La Mondiale team comes from.This stage will be quite mountaineous with the climb of the Côte des Neyrolles (3.2 km @ 7.2%) rapidly after the start in Nantua, the Col de la Biche (Croix de Famban) (10.5 km @ 9%) about fifty kilometers further, immediately followed by the climb of the hardest side of the Grand Colombier climb (8.5 km @ 9.9%). Before they arrive in Chambéry, the riders will still have to climb the Mont du Chat (8.7 km @ 10.3%), a difficult climn which has been on the Tour de France's race route only once before (in 1974!). From there, the riders will go down to Le Bourget-du-Lac and will cross the finish line in Chambéry a bit over 12 kilometers further.
R1/ Monday 10 July 2017 - Dordogne
After the finish in Chambéry, which can be qualified as "pre-Alps", a big transfer towards the Dordogne department (Périgueux) is on the programWe. The riders will do it by plane and will enjoy the first rest day of this Tour de France 2017Tuesday 11 July 2017 - 10/ Périgueux > Bergerac - 178 km
After the first rest day, the Tour de France 2017 will start for the 10th stage in Périgueux. Already 3 times visited before by the Tour, the city of Périgueux will see the Tour de France for the very first time for a stage in line instead of a time trial like before.It'll probably be a sprint which will decide for the stage win 178 kilometers further, in Bergerac, after a visit of Montignac and the replica of the grotte de Lascaux.
11/ Wednesday 12 July 2017 - Eymet > Pau - 202 km
Another transition stage before we get into the Pyrenees will take place between Eymet, a small village in the Dordogne department with 3,500 inhabitants which will see the Tour for the first time, and Pau, which is much more usual in the Tour de France since the préfecture of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department will be on the map of the Tour de France for the 69th time in 2017!!CONTINUE READING AFTER THIS ADVERTISEMENT
12/ Thursday 13 July 2017 - Pau > Peyragudes - 214 km
The first Pyrenean stage will also start in Pau and this will be the longest stage of the Pyrenees visit in this 104th Tour, going towards the Peyragudes station.While the first half of the stage is relatively simple, things get more complicated halfway the race, with the climb of the Col des Ares (7.4 km @ 4.6%) followed a bit further by the Col de Menté (6.9 km @ 8.1%) and closer to the finish by the Port de Balès (11.7 km @ 7.7%). We'll then be at 30 kilometers from the finish, which will be downhill over 16 kilometers followed by the 9.7 kilometers climbing on the Col de Peyresourde (with an average steepness of 7.8%), a short descent over a bit more than 2 kilometers and the final climb towards Peyragudes over 2.4 km (with an average steepness of 8.4%).
The finish will be judged for the very first time in the history of the Tour at the unique altiport of the Pyrenees, where the riders will arrive after a last kilometer which contains a portion up to 16% over 200 meters!
13/ Friday 14 July 2017 - Saint-Girons > Foix - 100 km
The 13th stage of the Tour de France 2017 which will take place on Friday 14 July, National bank holiday in France, is extremely short, with its 100 kilometers it's the shortest stage in line of this Tour, even shorter than the last stage which finishes in Paris!That doesn't make it an easy stage though because between the start in Foix and the finish in Saint-Girons, it will contain no less than 3 difficulties with some very difficult parts. These are the Col de Latrape (5.6 km @ 7.3%), the Col d'Agnes (10 km @ 8.2%) and finally the Mur de Péguère (9.3 km @ 7.9%) which pretty well respects the new name ("mur" for "wall") that A.S.O. gave it when the Tour climbed it last time in 2012 with its steepness going up to 18% at one point!
14/ Saturday 15 July 2017 - Blagnac > Rodez - 181 km
Will this 14th stage starting in Blagnac be a transition stage without much interest or will a puncher be able to use for example the Côte Saint-Pierre in Rodez to take a surprise win?15/ Sunday 16 July 2017 - Laissac-Sévérac L'Eglise > Le Puy-en-Velay
In the village Laissac, with only 2,100 inhabitants, the venue of the Tour will be the event of a lifetime since never before the Grande Boucle stopped there and the village is more known for mountain biking.Throught the plateau de l'Aubrac, the riders will climb the Montée de Naves d'Aubrac (8.9 km @ 6.4%) and stay on the plateau above 1,000 meters of altitude over about one hundred kilometers before they descend towards the foot of the Col de Peyra Taillade (8.3 km @ 7.4%) with a portion up to 14% which has never before been climbed in the Tour de France. In a descent the riders then continue on towards Le Puy-en-Velay where a breakaway might take the stage victory!
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R2/ Monday 17 July 2017 - rest day at Le Puy-en-Velay
During the second rest day, there will be no transfer since the riders can rest where they finished, in Le Puy-en-Velay.16/ Tuesday 18 July 2017 - Le Puy-en-Velay > Romans-sur-Isère - 165 km
After the rest day, the start of this 16th stage will also take place in Le Puy-en-Velay*. This will be a stage towards Romans-sur-Isère in which everything is possible if we believe Christian Prudhomme's comment (the director of the Tour de France), since he writes: The roads of the day are perfectly known by the amateur riders of the Ardéchoise cyclosportive, with a topography that could give confidence to breakaway riders. But finishes in the Rhône Valley often end up with bunched sprints... unless the wind plays a role.* The only error in the race route I announced based on the rumours was in this stage start. The night before the official presentation, several media reported that the mayor of Brioude received a letter from A.S.O. which announced them that the Tour de France 2017 would not come visit the city. I then deliberately decided to not update the article with this information since this was no longer about rumours but about a precise information which was sufficiently available in different local media ;-).
17/ Wednesday 19 July 2017 - La Mure > Serre-Chevalier - 183 km
From La Mure, a stage city which has never before been visited by the Tour de France, we then finally really get into the Alps for a stage with 4 difficulties.Indeed, it all starts with the climb of the Col d'Ornon (5.1 km @ 6.7%), followed a bit further by the Col de la Croix de Fer (24 km @ 5.2%) and after a visit of the valley via Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, the riders attack the climb of the Col du Télégraphe (11.9 km @ 7.1%) which goes on in the climb of the Col du Galibier (17.7 km @ 6.9%). The descent of this last climb brings them to the finish in Serre-Chevalier.
18/ Thursday 20 July 2017 - Briançon > Izoard - 178 km
The second Alps stage will start in Briançon and will go off to Embrun and Barcelonnette, before it gets on the climb of the Col de Vars (9.3 km @ 7.5%) followed by the final climb towards the Col d'Izoard (14.1 km @ 7.3%), a col where never before a stage of the Tour finished.CONTINUE READING AFTER THIS ADVERTISEMENT
19/ Friday 21 July 2017 - Embrun > Salon-de-Provence - 220 km
Leaving the Alps, the peloton gets back together in Embrun for the start of the longest stage of this Tour de France 2017, towards Salon-de-Provence. The start of the stage will be hilly and thus difficult and this could lead to a breakaway getting away. But the question is whether it will be able to go on till the finish ...?20/ Saturday 22 July 2017 - Marseille > Marseille - individual time trial - 23 km
The forelast stage of the Tour de France 2017 will entirely take place in the streets of Marseille where the start and the finish of this solo adventure will both be in the Orange Vélodrome, the stadium of the Olympique Marseille football club which was recently renamed thanks to the sponsoring by Orange, also one of the sponsors of the Tour.In 2017, Marseille will be the European capital of sports and this time trial is thus part of this, even though it means for the followers of the Tour the obligation to do a huge distance to get back to the Parisian region, during a weekend where people leave on holidays.
21/ Sunday 23 July 2017 - Montgeron > Paris Champs-Elysées - 105 km
The start of the very last stage of the Tour de France 2017 will take place in Montgeron, where the very first start of the Tour de France took place in 1903 and where the Tour returned in 2003 for the centenary of the Tour.Once the riders get in Paris, they'll have to do the usual circuit on the Champs-Elysées, but before they get there they'll cross - for the very first time - through the Grand Palais via the big wing!
The map with the race route of the Tour de France 2017
Hereunder you'll find the official map of the Tour de France 2017:The video of the Tour de France 2017 race route
Soon ...
In the next few days, I'll offer you the possibility to have a look back on the presentation of the Tour de France 2017 presentation in photo and video. door Thomas VergouwenVond u dit artikel interessant? Laat het uw vrienden op Facebook weten door op de buttons hieronder te klikken!
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