le Tour de France, 2014

5 July - 27 July, 2014

English start, French continuation

“Yorkshire, land of inspiration” ☺

The hundred and first edition of the Tour de France starts with the first three stages in the land of its neighbour across “La Manche”, its favourite enemy and rival, its saviour in two world wars - England.

The first two stages will be held in England’s largest county Yorkshire, running from Leeds to Harrogate on the 5th July and from York to Sheffield on the 6th July. The third English stage will run from Cambridge to London,

2014 tour de france route

From Saturday 5 July to Sunday 27 July, 2013, the 101th Tour de France will be competed during 21 stages, over a distance of 3,656 kilometres.

There will be:

• 9 flat stages
• 5 hilly stages
• 6 mountain stages with 5 summit finishes
• 1 individual time trial stage
• 2 rest days

There are 9 towns not previously visited :

• Leeds (start of stage 1)
• Harrogate (finish of stage 1)
• York (start of stage 2)
• Sheffield (finish of stage 2)
• Cambridge (start of stage 3)
• Ypres (finish of stage 5)
• Oyonnax (finish of stage 11)
• Risoul (finish of stage 14)
• Maubourguet Pays du Val d’Adour (start of stage 19)

The 2014 Tour de France begins by spending three days in England, with the first day starting from Leeds. Yorkshire is preparing for a grand celebration of their county and its heritage - churches, villages, people, songs, landscapes, a positive rave-up. Because the roads are closed for so much of the day, locals are making the best of things with fêtes, concerts and cycling and Tour-themed events and displays. Nine helicopters will be filming from the air, picking out some of the more picturesque churches and villages for the TDF broadcasts.

One jolly, on-going event on both days will be the ringing of church bells as the caravan and then the riders pass. The churches ringing out on Saturday 5th July will be Leeds St Annes, Leeds Minster, Chapel Allerton, Otley, Ilkley, Addingham, Rylstone, Grinton, East Witton, Masham, West Tanfield, Ripon Cathedral, Harrogate St Peters; while on Sunday 6th July it's the turn of York Minster, York St Wilfrid, York St Martins, Knaresborough, Harrogate St Peters, Harrogate St Wilfrids, (Blubberhouses, to be confirmed), Addingham, Silsden, Keighley, (Haworth, to be confirmed), Oxenhope, (Mytholmroyd, to be confirmed), Ripponden, Holmfirth, (Bradfield, to be confirmed), Sheffield Cathedral.

The first Yorkshire stage heads northwest out of the city centre and into the Yorkshire countryside, labouring to find history and landscapes as impressive as those of France - Harewood House, Skipton,Yorkshire Dales National Park, the cathedral city of Ripon, with a straight line finish at "the spa town" of Harrogate. A flat stage, this is one for the sprinters.

Stage Two starts from the walled city of York, passing through Harrogate again (note that Yorkshire may be large, but it's not large enough to prevent repeats) and on to cultural Haworth, home of the Brontë sisters, and then to Huddersfield. Then there will be some climbs to reach another National Park, the Peak District, on the edge of the Pennines. The stage finishes in Sheffield, dubbed by the TDF as "the UK's first city of sport". With nine categorised climbs, Stage Two is for the climbers, who'll be riding a veritable switchback (or des montaignes russes in French).

The third, mostly flat, stage runs from the university city of Cambridge, going through Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. The race enters Greater London from Epping Forest. Passing the Olympic Park and the Velodrome, this tourist stage will have views of the Thames, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey. As is becoming traditional, the final stretch is through St James's Park, round past Buckingham Palace to finish on The Mall.

great war commemorations

The French part of the Tour de France starts in the north-east, paying its respects to to those who died in World War One on the 100th anniversary year of the Great War's start. Stage 4 is in Belgium - starting at Ypres, bitterly fought over in WW1, and will ride on the Chemin des Dames ridge where unexploded bombs are still found. The peleton will also cross the Verdun battlefields where 700,000 were killed or wounded in 10 months of intense fighting.

the stages for 2014

There will be 21 stages. These include 6 high mountain stages [ Vosges 2, Alps 2, Pyrenees 2], 5 medium mountain/hilly stages, but only one individual against-the-clock (stage20) [contre-le-montre] time trial. There are 2 rest days (15th and 21th July). All other days are 'on the plain' - relatively flat days, almost touring through France. The total distance ridden will be about 3,656 kilometres, or roughly 2272 miles.

Pavé/cobbled road. Image: eurosport.fr

The fifth stage, ending at Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, includes 15.4 km of cobbled roads in nine sections, known better as part of the route for the annual Paris-Roubaix race.

Stages eight to ten are in the Vosges mountains, stages 11 to 14 are in the Alps, while stages 16 to 18 are in the Pyrenees.

this year’s t-shirts

In amongst this year's ever-growing collection of TDF t-shirts can be found two that have some theme connection with this year's Tour. Somewhat oddly, the t-shirt for the United Kingdom is drab and, one could even say, scruffy. Is this a hint of France's opinion of their neighbour?

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United Kingdom motif t- shirt : 22€

The Paris-themed t-shirt is much more gai.

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Paris motif t- shirt : 22€

There is also a t-shirt based on this year's poster:

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Tour de France t- shirt : 22€

the teams for 2014

team jerseys/colours

2014 TDF team jerseys

this year’s top ten seeded riders

The younger cyclists are starting to show their abilities, established riders need to watch out!

watch tdf broadcasts

Here are a few of the more reputable sites that were available for the 2014 TDF.

last year (2013): the first ten riders

the mountain stages and summit finishes

Stage 8, 12th July- Tomblaine > Gérardmer La Mauselaine

Profile for stage 8, Tomblaine > Gérardmer La Mauselaine

• Km 142 - Col de la Croix des Moinats: 7,6 kilometre-long climb at 6%
  
• Km 150 - Col de Grosse Pierre: 3 kilometre-long climb at 7,5%
  
• Km 161 - Gérardmer La Mauselaine: 1,8 kilometre-long climb at 10,3%

Stage 10, 14th July - Mulhouse > La Planche des Belles Filles

Stage 10 profile, Mulhouse > La Planche des Belles Filles

• Km 30,5 - Col du Firstplan: 8,3 kilometre-long climb at 5,4%
• Km 54,5 - Petit Ballon: 9,3 kilometre-long climb at 8,1%
• Km 72 - Col du Platzerwase: l7,1 kilometre-long climb at 8,4%
• Km 104 - Col d’Oderen: 6,7 kilometre-long climb at 6,1%
• Km 144 - Col des Chevrères: 3,5 kilometre-long climb at 9,5%
• Km 161 - La Planche des Belles Filles: 5,9 kilometre-long climb at 8,5%

Stage 13, 18th July - Saint-Étienne > Chamrousse

Stage 13 profile, Saint-Étienne > Chamrousse

• Km 154,5 - Col de Palaquit: 14,1 kilometre-long climb at 6,1%
  summit finish
  
• Km 200 - Chamrousse: 18,2 kilometre-long climb at 7,3%

Stage 14, 18th July - Grenoble > Risoul

profile

• Km 82 - Col du Lautaret: 34 kilometre-long climb at 3,9%
• Km 132,5 - Col d’Izoard: 19 kilometre-long climb at 6%
  summit finish
  
• Km 177 - Risoul: 12,6 kilometre-long climb at 6,9%

Stage 16, 22nd July - Carcassonne > Bagnères-de-Luchon

profile

• Km 155 - Col de Portet-d’Aspet: 5,4 kilometre-long climb at 6,9%
  summit finish
  
• Km 215,5 - Port de Balès: 11,7 kilometre-long climb at 7,7%

Stage 17, 23th July - Saint-Gaudens > Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet

Stage 17 profile, Saint-Gaudens > Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet

Of the 125 kilometres, forty will be made on slopes of more than 7%.

• Km 57,5 - Col du Portillon: 8,3 kilometre-long climb at 7,1%
• Km 82 - Col de Peyresourde: 13,2 kilometre-long climb at 7%
  
  
  
  
  
• Km 102,5 - Col de Val Louron-Azet: 7,4 kilometre-long climb at 8,3%
  summit finish
  
• Km 125 - Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet: 10,2 kilometre-long climb at 8,3%
  
  
  

Stage 18, 24th July - Pau > Hautacam

Stage 18 profile, Pau > Hautacam

• Km 95,5 - Col du Tourmalet: 17,1 kilometre-long climb at 7,3%
  summit finish
  
• Km 145 - Hautacam: 13,6 kilometre-long climb at 7,8%

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