le Tour de France, 2015

4 July - 26 July, 2015

an austerity race

the elephant in the room

Look at the route, shown on the map to the right, what do you see?

For the sixth time, the Grand Depart is in Belgium, and the first time the Tour has started in Utrecht. It then stages through Belgium and the north of France with short inter-stage hops.
Next there is a flight that jumps over a huge swathe of central France, so the following stage starts in the central Pyrenees after a rest day in Pau.
Then, perhaps commemorating the 40th anniversary of the spotty jersey, the tough, exacting and exciting climbs through the Pyrenees and Alps, and then....
another flight back north to the Ile de France and the triumphant final day, arriving at the Champs-Élysées in France's capital city, Paris.

But, but ... where's the usual travelogue through the diversity of country towns and landscapes of La Belle France?
How many French people will be able to watch, at the roadside, the colourful horde of racing cyclists pass through a nearby town, or bit of countryside, or even past their door this year? (Through how many départements will the race pass?)

We would suggest that, as with the 2012 Vuelta d'Espagne, which only visited the northern half of the country because the southern towns could not afford the costs of welcoming the race thanks to the Spanish economic crisis, French municipalities are cutting back on their customary welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth.

It looks as if, burdened by the consequences of the ongoing economic problems in the Euro Zone, and in particular France's weedy growth and increasingly crushing tax regime, central French towns and cities dare not spend more, even if it will attract visitors, publicity and, potentially, revenue.
Or, is the Tour de France organisation itself tightening its belt, reducing the overall distances, and so the costs, of shifting the huge Tour circus every day for three weeks?

Who knows - everyone appears to be ignoring the economic elephant, while admiring a Tour visiting just the northern flat departments and the southern mountainous ones.

"perpetual movement"

This flowery description from the TDF organisers shows the enthusiasm and energy that will make this Tour continue to be the Greatest Show on Earth, despite the comments made above.

The 2015 Tour will be a race of two acts, a flat act and a mountainous one - no kidding, look at the colours marking the stage types on the stages list below. (Note the organisers are describing the race as in three acts - flat north, Alps, and Pyrenees.)

The first act has nine flat or near flat stages - three with sprint finishes (at Zeeland, Amiens and Fougères), one with cobbled sections (stage 4), two uphill finishes (at Huy and Mûr-de-Bretagne), an individual time trial and a tardy team time trial. Plenty of variety here.

The second act has three days switchbacking along the Pyrenees, with two summit finishes; then four transition days traversing the southern border of the Central Massif; followed by four more gruelling stages in the Alps, with three summit finishes.

There are stages that commemorate where heroes were toppled (stage 17, Eddy Merckx by Frenchman Bernard Thevenet in 1975) and heroes crowned (stage 14 where in 1975, 27 year-old Laurent Jalabert (Jaja) won the stage, powering up the Croix-Neuve slope, with its average 10,1 % slope over 3.1 km. Since then, this slope is also called the Montée Laurent Jalabert.)

On the Rodez - Mende stage (stage 14), the peleton pass under the Millau Viaduc, the longest and highest in France, in Europe and, until fairly recently, the world.

The race's penultimate day has 13.8 km at 8.1% up Alpe d'Huez, with its famous 21 hairpin bends. There's previously been a mountain finish on the penultimate day of the Tour in 2009 at Mont Ventoux and in 2013 at Annecy-Semnoz.

The last day's 107 km ride will take in historic landmarks of Paris, before the sprinters' climax on the Champs-Élysées .

2015 tour de france route

From Saturday 5 July to Sunday 26 July, 2013, the 102th Tour de France will be competed during 21 stages, over a distance of 3,344 kilometres.

There will be:

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

There are 6 towns not previously visited:

• Utrecht (1st stage and start of 2nd stage)
• Zeeland (arrival 2nd stage)
• Livarot (start 7th stage)
• La Pierre-Saint-Martin (arrival 10th stage)
• Muret (start 13th stage)
• Sèvres - Grand Paris Seine Ouest (start 21st stage)

points are back!

There will be a new points system on the 9 flat stages to add value to the stage wins, and encourage more competition earlier on in the race.

The points awarded will be 50, 30, 20, 18, ​​16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 ​​points for the first 15 riders to finish.
(The previous points awards were 45, 35, 30, 26, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 points for the first 15 riders.)

the stages for 2015

There will be 21 stages. These include 7 high mountain stages [ Alps 4, Pyrenees 3], 3 medium mountain/hilly stages, but only one individual against-the-clock (stage20) [contre-le-montre] time trial. There are 2 rest days (13th and 21th July). All other days are 'on the plain' - relatively flat days, almost touring through some of France. The total distance ridden will be about 3,344 kilometres, or roughly 2078 miles.

this year’s t-shirts

This year, as well as the usual TDF logo t-shirts, you can choose from t-shirts for men, in manly summer grunge:

Paris motif t- shirt : 20€	Grand départ t-shirt : 25€

or for women - a bit more jolly!

ladies' t-shirt : 20€	ladies' t-shirt : 22€	ladies' t-shirt : 20€

the teams for 2015

team jerseys/colours

2015 TDF team jerseys

this year’s top ten seeded riders

Astana, with Nibali as leader and funded by Kazakhstan oil revenues, also have two riders, Aru and Landa, who could easily lead a strong teams of their own, having come second and third in this year's Giro. This make the Astana team so strong that they could even dream of coming first, second and third in this year's TDF.

watch tdf broadcasts

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

last year (2014): the first ten riders

cobbles, mountain stages, uphill and summit finishes

Stage 3, 6th July - Belgium : Anvers > Huy

This stage ends with the classic Mur de Huy climb :

Last kilometre for Stage 3, 7th July- Belgium : Anvers > Huy

Stage 4, 7th July - Belgium : Seriang > France : Cambrai

The cobbled sections - secteurs pavées :

Cobbled sections for Stage 4, 7th July- Belgium : Seriang > France : Cambrai

Stage 8, 11th July - Rennes > Mûr-de-Bretagne

This stage finishes witht the harsh Mûr de Bretagne climb :

Profile for Stage 8, 11th July - Rennes > Mûr-de-Bretagne

Stage 10, 14th July - Tarbes > La Pierre Saint-Martin

Fot the first time on the Tour de France, a final climb with a maximum gradient of 15% rising over 25km.

Profile for Stage 10, 14th July-Tarbes > La Pierre Saint-Martin

Stage 11, 15th July - Pau > Cauterets

Three mountain climbs up Aspin, Tourmalet and Cauterets.

Profile for Stage 11, 15th July-Pau > Cauterets

Stage 12, 16th July - Lannemezan > La Pierre Saint-Martin

Four peaks, ending with a 15.8km climb climb, rising almost 1,800m to the Plateau de Beille. This stage passes Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, the cathedral of the Pyrenees.

Profile for Stage 12, Lannemezan > La Pierre Saint-Martin

Stage 17, 22nd July- Digne-les-bains > Pra-loup

With some real mountain passes, this arduous day ends with the climb where Eddy Merckx, five timse winner of both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia and three times World Champion, in effect lost the 1975 Tour de France.

Profile for Stage 17, 22nd July- Digne-les-bains > Pra-loup

Stage 18, 23rd July - Gap > Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

Four categorised climbs on this mountain stage.

Profile for Stage 18, 23rd July - Gap > Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

Stage 19, 24th July - Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > La Toussuire

Four mountain peaks ending on La Toussuire, where Chris Froome made an attack on Bradley Wiggins in 2012

Profile for Stage 19, 24th July - Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > La Toussuire

Stage 20, 25th July - Modane > Alp-d'Huez

At 110 km, this is a relatively short stage, finishing with 1,130 m ascent over 15 km up the Alpe-de-Huez.

Profile for Stage 20, 25th July- Modane > Alp-d'Huez

end notes

1. Pau is known as the doper's trap for the numbers of successful raids and tests on doping riders over the years.
   
   
2. MUR and MÛR (wall and mature)
   Two uphill finishes will spice up the first week of racing. First, the Mur de Huy (1.3 km at 9.6%), ending the 3rd stage at La Flèche Wallonne. Then the Mûr de Bretagne (2 km at 6.9% with passages at 15%), nicknamed the Alpe d'Huez of Brittany and previously in the 2011 Tour, will finish the eighth stage.
   
   
3. International Cycling Union (UCI) regulations require that, for a team to finish a team time trial, five team members must complete the stage. The regulations also requires the team time trial take place in the first third of the race. The TDF organisers had to seek a waiver from the UCI to include this stage after eight days of racing, with the risk that teams may be weakened by injuries and retirements.
   
   "Over a short distance, starting out with seven riders is not necessarily a handicap," said race director Thierry Gouvenou. According to him, the stage being only 28 km long should reduce the potential problem of large gaps between riders occuring. Stage 9, between Vannes and Plumelec, will finish at the top of Cadoudal hill.

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